Gaurdian of the First Bloom
by LightningS9
Summary: Starting five years before Honnouji Academy, follow Yori as he supports Satsuki in her quest to defeat Revocs...Sorry for the bad summary, I'm unsure what to put. Please read and enjoy this SatsukixOC fic.
1. Chapter 1

The twelve year old Satsuki Kiryuin looks sternly up at Chiyo Middle School. The clean dark stone building, shaped in the way of the western castles in tales of knights in armor, seems oddly placed just above the active, dirty trade city they find themselves in. Though one thing was certain, it was entrancing among the snowy backdrop colored golden by the rising sun.

"We have finally arrived Lady Satsuki." The rumbling voice of her newest recruit Ira Gamagoori said from behind her.

"Yeah, to a rat infested shit-hole. Why are we even here, Toad?" the snarky tone of Nonon Jakuzure questioned.

"We need resources, people, and funding for the Lady's goal, this is the best place to acquire all three. Now we need only find the son of the CEO of the Suzambo trade company to finish our dealings here."

Suddenly there is the sound of a fist impacting something causing Satsuki to look over her shoulder. There curled on the ground was a grade school child maybe two years younger than herself.

"How dare you try to pick pocket Lady Satsuki!" Gamagoori boomed as the dark skinned giant looms over the child's crumpled form

There is a gasp followed by, "Hey, my hat! Get back here with my hat you little hoodlum!"

She had heard rumors that Hayato Suzambo could never be found, unless he calls for you with his horde of rats. As the second child suddenly gets up and snakes around Gamagoori's grasp she assumed these urchins were his form of summons.

"Follow them, they will likely lead us to Suzambo!" she ordered as she charges forward through the crowd after the thieves.

 **Chiyo City rooftops**

The dark red haired twelve year old watched from afar as a fierce looking girl clad in white and blue chased down a couple of Hayato's rats. Her cohorts followed her in their own various ways as they chased the thieves in the packed streets of lower Chiyo. Just ahead of them were some of Hayato's little thieves running away with the pink haired girl's hat, only they were sure to stay just head of the three rather than lose them completely like he expected they could.

" _So Hayato's got a visitor today,"_ he thought as he takes one last look at the girl leading them, his position ahead of them giving him a good look at her determined blue eyes, eyes he himself has had on occasion, _"He's not going to be able to sway this one easily."_

He turns away as the trio disappears into an ally, looking back to his school; he needed to get to class before they started anyway. He pulls his leather jacket to himself just before he begins running and jumping across the rooftops on the climb to the middle school.

 **Hayato's Den, Chiyo Middle School Freezer**

As the last of the goons fall to her Bakuzan, the squat, long nosed figure of Hayato Suzambo appears on a large monitor once more.

"My, my, looks like you were telling the truth! No one but a legendary Kiryuin could have trounced my boys so thoroughly." he says, ending in a scratchy laugh.

"No more game's Suzambo!" she demanded pointing her blade at the screen, "Reveal yourself now, otherwise you will regret it when I find you!"

"Cool your jets, sweet-cheeks." He said as a crooked grin spreads across his face, "I know what it is you came for. Your mum and my pop are working out their arrangements and you want my assistance with this little project you got in the Tokyo Bay. Well this little underworld I run doesn't do charity work, so I'm going to need something from you."

She hears Gamagoori take in a deep breath in preparation to admonish the young man for the way he is making demands of her, but she stops him. As much as it pained her she knew she would have to swallow her pride and answer this scums demands. Not only were the connections to Chiyo's resources and the people he could hustle for her useful, but his peerless ability to work the system to his own ends would make him a useful pawn in marshaling the strength she would need to combat her mother.

"Very well, Suzambo, what is it you wish?"

"Well as you've probably guessed me and pop's organization and the Takarada Syndicate have many similar interests. All of which are primarily used to obtain money. Now normally that wouldn't be a problem," Hayato's so far calm and fearless demeanor changes into one of anger, "but when the bastards start trying to muscle in on OUR mining and smuggling operations on OUR turf then we have a FUCKING PROBLEM!"

"Now what I want you to do is use that swordsmanship to crush the little wimp Kaneo's fieldtrip he has in the mountains. You don't have to worry about the little prick being there himself. He and his dad are just using some damn grade school parents as "chaperones" that are probing our goddamn mountain for a vein to set up shop at!"

After a little huffing and puffing the short crime lord seems to return to his obnoxiously confident demeanor, "Since this is your first time at my lovely mountain I've decided you may need a guide."

The door behind them opens. Satsuki turns to see a fit young man with deep red hair entering with a leather jacket thrown over his shoulder.

"This here is Yori, one of the best survivalists this side of the mountain; he can get you there in no time."

"No." Yori said flatly.

"Wha-Damn it Yori!" Hayato growled at him on the screen in the back of the freezer. He mumbles something under his breath before composing himself, "You'll have to excuse me Kiryuin. I need to reestablish who the top dog in this town is."

He wasn't expecting that, Hayato had learned long ago not to throw his people at him. This girl must be a really important client for him to risk his wrath for, and that had him intrigued. Suddenly there was a shadow cast over him from the hallway light behind him. He rolls forward, turning to see a group of large boys holding metal pipes. The one closest to him immediately charges forward haphazardly. He answers the pipe swinging towards his face with a duck and an uppercut. The large boy stumbles back, nearly knocked from his feet.

Yori smirks, "You guys sure you want to take this path?"

He can see some of the boys flinch, but none leave. Their fear of what Hayato would do to their families later likely greater that the fear of the beating he'd give them. He almost feels bad for them, but the fight he was about to give them would make them a little stronger.

Or it would break them, but that's the way the world works.

A pair of them moves to each side of him, obviously planning to attack together. Just as he thought they charge in unison once they are in position. Just as they swing he pulls his arms up to block their overhead strikes. He can feel a slight twinge of pain, but that is only enough to set him off. Quickly turning his hand up Yori grabs the pipes and yanks them from their owners grasps. He hears them yelp in fear but they are swiftly silenced as he turns, striking them both hard in the face. He can hear their teeth crack and blood spatter on the chilled stone floor of the freezer. Both of the boys fall to the floor unconscious, and he tosses away the pipes and beckons the lackeys forward.

"Will you idiots just come at me all at once; I want to get this over with." He said as he shoots them a serious glare.

Satsuki can't help but be slightly amazed at the scene unfolding in front of her. The well-built red haired boy named Yori was a flurry of movements as the senior students swarmed him. What hits he couldn't dodge or block he took, making the young men pay with fierce blows. His strikes seemed to only increase in intensity the more hits the seniors landed. As their numbers dwindled so did their individual resolve, but the ones that tried to run seemed to draw the boys focus more than the attackers. He seemed as a hunter, and the seniors were his prey. Once the last senior fell to a particularly strong head-butt he looked past them to the screen, a fiery look in his deep blue eyes.

Perhaps Hayato wasn't the only person from Chiyo she needed.

She could hear Suzambo stuttering from behind her. Fear replaced his confident tone as he spoke, "D-Damn you Yori! I have too much riding on this; I need more muscle down there now!"

"Don't bother," the she interjected. She moves forward, readying Bakuzan, "I will defeat him myself."

Gamagoori moves in front of her, "I am sorry my Lady, but this…"

"Move aside Gamagoori, I will handle this."

The tall young man quickly moves from her path, bowing to her as she passes, "Yes my Lady."

"So you are the famous Satsuki Kiryuin." Yori says as she approached, "Normally I expect people in your position of leadership to not have any real ability."

"You are about to find that Satsuki Kiryuin is much more than normal."

"Oh that I could tell already, no one gets that look in their eye unless they have something important they need to do… a monster that they need to slay."

She is taken by surprise by that last comment. Did he know?

Her train of thought is interrupted as he continues, "If you can impress me I'll help you get where you need to go. You can even let your allies help you out."

"I will not need assistance to tame you. Now come!"

With that they rush forward to one another. Once he is in range she swings Bakuzan horizontally to his chest. Yori slides under the sword, attempting to use his momentum to kick her feet from under her. She jumps just as he slides underneath. She predicts his next move as she brings Bakuzan's flat edge to guard her back. Just as she expected there is the sudden force of a fist impacting her sword. The force of the blow causes her to slide forward towards one of the unconscious seniors. Placing her foot forward she uses the unconscious boy to stop her forward motion. She quickly turns and finds Yori already rushing her. His fiery expression seems gone from his eyes, in the split moment before he makes contact with her they seem almost playful. As she dodged his punches the anger she momentarily felt at his expression dissipates.

" _He isn't holding back," she thinks, "is he enjoying matching himself to someone of my skill?"_

They trade swings, blocking and dodging, neither giving any less than their best. She swings once more, this time releasing her dual grip in attempt to swipe away his blocking arm. In response to this he catches her wrist holding Bakuzan as he throws the opposite hand towards her. She catches the fist and prepares to head-butt him. He apparently has the same idea as their foreheads collide. She can feel blood trickle down her face as she sees a small red line make its way down Yori's face as well. They stand there for a moment until Yori smirks.

She feels his leg sneak around hers and suddenly she is forced back. He is above her looking down as he prepares to strike. She uses Bakuzan for leverage as she forces them to change positions. She now straddles him, her sword mere inches from his throat. His fingers grip the blade holding it back enough that he could retaliate with the other hand before she could stop him. Rather than a fearful expression he seems elated.

"I say we stop now, we'll be here all night otherwise." He said through heavy breath.

"I cannot, not until you agree to take us where we need to go." She replied through her own tired breathing.

"If you think you are ready for it, I can take you to them."


	2. Chapter 2

As the last of the bandage comes off Yori looks at his hand. The cut wasn't that deep; it wouldn't leave a scar across his fingers. It was deep enough for him to see the red under his white flesh.

He looks up, the giant of a boy Gamagoori and the petite Jakuzure both asleep on the other side of the fire he made out of some of the wood from the cart tracks and his undershirt. Both seem uncomfortable but for different reasons. Jakuzure seems simply displeased at the stone of the abandoned mines floor while Gamagoori seems displeased with his own clothing. The pair were chilled and exhausted when they arrived here to rest from their vain attempt to block the snow and wind from their lady.

He finds it curious Hayato didn't give these people more supplies. The short criminal knew he wouldn't have anything; all he liked to take with him was the cloths on his back and test his wit against the mountain's natural peril. No, all Hayato deems necessary to provide is some snow boots and a slightly heavier jacket. The most likely scenario was that he was trying to get the Kiryuin girl exhausted so that he could squeeze more out of her when they conclude their dealings

"How is your hand?"

He looks to his right, finding the girl in question wide awake, the same determined look in her eye she had during their fight.

" _You aren't going to break this one, Hayato."_ He thinks before answering.

"It's fine. If you would have put any more pressure behind it I'd have a nasty scar, but as it is there won't be any problems."

She hums, and then returns her attention to the fire. They sit there for a moment before he decides to break the silence.

"You had an interesting choice of words back there."

"What are you referring to?"

"When you said "I will not need assistance to tame you" just before we got started fighting."

"How so?"

"I'm not exactly the kind of person you'll be able to tame, as I expect you are the same."

"I will admit, you do seem different, you seem to have learned the power of fear."

"What makes you say that?"

"The way you chased down the boys who tried to flee when they attacked you. I assume you were making your impression so that they wouldn't fight you again."

He can't help but laugh. When he stops he sees the inquisitive look she is giving him, one of her eyebrows raised with her stern features softened slightly.

"You're cute."

She blushes slightly and frowns, her serious features returning quickly but he continues.

"You seem to believe we live in some kind of anime world where all of those guys were faceless goons who haven't fought me before. The truth is I've fought some of them on other occasions. The ones who ran where new, but after they see that they aren't dead tomorrow they'll do one of two things. They'll either get stronger for it, or they'll give up."

"That is a useless description of what I just said. Unless you would tell me you would welcome that they come make an attempt on your life once more, in which if that is the case you are a fool."

He shrugs, "Everyone has different ideals, and we all make different choices based on them. Those very choices have the potential to change many things."

The howling wind begins to die down from the cave mouth behind the girl. He stands, brushing some of the dust from his hide lined school pants.

"I am curious at the ones you will make."

 **A few hours later…**

Satsuki looks down the mountainside from her place next to Yori on the small black stone plateau. Below them is a small mining town with a bus clearly visible at its center.

"This is the place." Yori begins, "I'm going to wait here. I'm sure you can make it down there and handle this on your own."

"Why thanks for the vote of confidence boy scout." Jakuzure states sarcastically.

"What you do down there is between you and them. I don't wish to interfere."

She can't help but be slightly perturbed with how cryptic Yori was being. What was it both he and Hayato weren't telling them about this place?

She didn't have time to dwell on it, the afternoon sun bearing down on the mountainside likely made them visible to the occupants of the town and she had to assume hostility.

"Jakuzure, Gamagoori." she called back as they move down the mountainside.

"Yes, Lady Satsuki?" they both respond.

"Try and spare these people if you can, I wish to question them."

"As you wish."

As they close in on the town she instantly notices how quiet it is. They walk around one of the buildings into the town proper and begin moving towards the bus in the center of the town. Once there she looks around. Some buildings appear new while others seem to be refurbished, in the distance she sees the entrance of a mine but there is no activity coming from it.

Suddenly there is a shrill yell. She shoots around to find a teenage girl diving towards Jakuzure, a pickaxe in her hand. Jakuzure gracefully parries the blow and strikes the woman in the head with her baton. The woman collapses unconscious from the rapt tap to her skull.

Apparently taking this as their signal more people charge, all of varying ages. The fight is uneventful for her as Gamagoori and Jakuzure make short work of the unorganized group of twenty or so people. Suddenly there is a boom as a rugged old man makes his way out of the mine, a hunting rifle in his hand.

"Enough of this! I'm gona give ya one chance to run back to your masters with yer tails between yer legs!" He yells as he levels his gun at them, "Otherwise I'm gona start shootin."

"You are mistaken old man," she bellowed as she draws Bakuzan, "Satsuki Kiryuin is her own master!"

"Don't give me that shit! You're under orders from the Suzambos, otherwise what would you want with some mining town in the middle of nowhere."

"I admit I am here because of a Suzambo, but I have apparently been misled. I ask you now to lower your weapon," she goes into a defensive stance, prepared to deflect his bullets if necessary, "otherwise I will be forced to make you lower it myself."

They stare at each other for a moment, but the old man soon releases his grip on the trigger and lowers his rifle to his side.

"Damn it, I can't believe I'm backin down to a twelve year old girl with a sword." He grumbles, "What'chu want then?"

"I want answers." She says as she sheaths her sword.

The man waves the forward as he turns to walk back into the mine entrance. She follows, hearing the crunch of the ice fade as they move forward. Once inside they find the man sitting next to a lantern in what seems like a makeshift office space.

"So ya say you've been misled. What exactly did the little bastard say bout us?"

She takes the seat he motions to as Gamagoori answers, "He informed us that that you were a group of Takarada miners and smugglers invading his territory under the guise of a grade school field trip."

"Hmph, figures he'd tell ya a half-truth rather than a full out lie. We are workin with them Takarada fellas, but only because we have no other choice."

"I see," Satsuki nods thoughtfully, "I assume you are providing resources and a way station for smugglers in exchange for living space away from Chiyo."

"Ya have it ma'am, we got sick of livin under those Suzambo bastards, but minin is all some of us know. We'd be usesless anywhere else, but you can't live on metal alone. I'm gonna assume that the little freak wanted you to stop us from workin with the Takaradas, that's why I'm gonna have to ask that you kids head back to Hayato and tell'im whatever deal ya have is off."

"I'm afraid I can't do that." she replies, raising her hand as his mouth shoots open she continues, "For my own reasons I must end your dealings with the Takaradas. I hereby annex your town in the name of the Kiryuins. You will provide resources for the great academy I am building. We will provide food and equipment, but I expect results."

The man is dumbstruck as she stands and turns away, walking out of the mine entrance.

"Where are you goin?"

"Back to Suzambo, if he thinks he can use Satsuki Kiryuin as his whip he is sadly mistaken."

"Ya won't find 'im. Hayato prolly already knows that you ain't killed us and won't be meetin with ya personally."

"You don't think that Boy Scout is the spy, do you?" Jakuzure asks.

She frowns as she increases her pace; she had to get back to that black stone perch.

 **Back on the Mountainside**

Yori yawns from his seat atop the spy Hayato sent to report on what happened at the mining town. The burly boy whimpers incessantly in fear of what he may have planned. In truth the boy had less to fear of his choice than he did with the girl now making her way back up the mountainside with her servants. The look in her focused eyes holds anger but quickly fades into questioning as she notices his human bench. He quickly pieces together that the initial look was likely because she thought he was Hayato's spy and chuckles.

"Nice to see you've finished, you continue to impress Satsuki Kiryuin."

"What do you have there, Boy Scout? Caught yourself a little birdy, have you?"

He grins, "Looks like it, but I think he belongs to Hayato. I figured you'd want to choose what song he sings back to his owner," he looks over to Satsuki, "as a favor to you."

"If that is why you have done this than release him, I do not wish to be in your debt." She replies coolly.

"You won't owe me anything." He begins as he stands, "I'm doing this because I haven't had a test of strength since you came along. It's rare to find someone I wouldn't mind calling my equal."

"How dare you!" Gamagoori booms as the giant suddenly moves between him and Satsuki, "I have tolerated your forward manner with my Lady, but to put yourself on equal standing is unforgivable!"

"I wouldn't mind a chance to put you through your paces big guy, but I don't think now is the time." He motions back to the guy on the ground. His whimpering has stopped meaning he is likely planning to run for it, especially if they begin to fight. He notices Satsuki begin making her way around Gamagoori and to the spy. She moves to the opposite side of him and places the bottom of her sheathed sword squarely on the small of his back. Holding the sword down with both hands she looks down at the boy.

"You will not move from this spot, understood?" she orders, a firm glare set on the spy.

"Y-yes ma'am." He shudders.

"Now face me!" Gamagoori demands.

Satsuki watches as Yori gets into a fighting stance, a spark seems to light in his eye as he looks at Gamagoori. This fight that Gamagoori was pushing for was the perfect chance to sway Yori to join her. The way Gamagoori loved to take punishment meant he would be able to fight an opponent like the red haired hunter much longer than anyone but her. If Gamagoori won she would be able to appeal to his need for strength to get him to join her. If Yori won, she would be able to convince him that his strength was wasted in Chiyo and that traveling with her would lead to his own glory.

Suddenly Yori rushes forth. Gamagoori slams his fist down to the man but the red head dodges right. Before Gamagoori even impacts the snow Yori launches himself up and strikes him in the face. The blow sends the giant of a man back more than a couple of steps, but Yori doesn't stop there. As soon his feet hit the ground he charges forward, his elbow forward. He aims for Gamagoori's solar plexus but the man regains composure and swings his fist into Yori's side. He quickly follows up with three more devastating punches that send the smaller man flying.

His impact buries him in snow temporarily but he is back in sight almost immediately. She can see the spark has grown into a full fire as he charges back at Gamagoori who is moving up the slope to meet him. Yori seems to be moving faster than before as he closes in on the larger man. Gamagoori throws a punch but before he can even finish the full swing Yori charges into him, lifting the giant from his feet and to the ground. They begin to roll back down the mountain until Yori slams a boot down to slow their decent. Using the sudden stop as a slingshot his fist barrels into Gamagoori once more. The red head then grabs the collar of Gamagoori's shirt and pulls him into a head-butt. Unceasing in his assault Yori forces himself up onto the giant's chest and jumps. She can almost feel the impact from where she is standing but Yori doesn't get in a second jump as Gamagoori grabs his leg and proceeds to slam the boy against the ground as he stands.

Once he is on his feet he throws the red head towards a rough stone ledge to her left. Yori hits the stone hard, and she hears fabric tear as he slides across the stony surface. He stops just before the edge and stands, shallow scratches mar his exposed chiseled chest. The look in his eyes is different now. The fiery look he normally holds is replaced with an icy cold glare that threatens to send a shiver down her spine. She suddenly hears a groan of pleasure to her right and her eyes cut away from the fight to see Jakuzure practically drooling over Yori's figure.

" _Hmph,"_ she thinks, _"she is so focused on his chest she probably can't tell how dangerous he is in his current state."_

Looking back she sees Yori walking back to Gamagoori rather charging him as he normally does. In his hand he holds the tattered remains of his school uniform. Just as he reaches Gamagoori the giant attempts to slam his fists down on him in a sledgehammer grip. In one fluid motion quicker than likely anyone but her can see Yori is flying over Gamagoori. In mid-flight Yori pulls his school shirt over the giants face and lands just behind him. Gamagoori is forced into an awkward position leaning slightly back. Then Yori begins striking Gamagoori in the back in various different places.

"Yes, more! Punish me more!" Gamagoori yells suddenly.

"Way to ruin the moment Toad." Jakuzure grumbles.

Normally when someone hears Gamagoori say such things they stop and he retaliates, but Yori doesn't desist until Gamagoori lets out an involuntary groan. At this Yori kicks at the back of Gamagoori's leg in an attempt to make him kneel but the giant refuses to fall.

"I refuse to kneel to anyone other than Lady Satsuki!" he declares, "Now feel my climax!"

Gamagoori pulls forward, pulling Yori from the ground. Rather than shoot over Gamagoori and into the ground the red head uses the momentum to be thrown straight into the air. As the shirt falls from his face Gamagoori looks around for his target before looking up. Like a bird of prey Yori dives back down as his fist impacts the dead center of Gamagoori's face. The impact of the blow sends snow flying everywhere that is only made worse from the following impact of Gamagoori's body to the ground. As the veritable smokescreen of snow settles she sees Yori standing over an unconscious looking Gamagoori.

"I don't need you to kneel." He says as he turns to walk to her.

Just as he stops in front of her Gamagoori is suddenly up and between them.

His voice is ragged and tired as he speaks "I am Lady Satsuki's living shield, I will guard her honor even if I must pay with my life."

"That is enough Gamagoori." She says. "Try as you will you will not be able to defeat him, and I refuse to have my shield broken before I even head to battle."

He slowly moves aside and kneels, "Yes, my Lady."

"Now that we've finished this what do you plan to do with him?" Yori asks.

She looks down at the spy, the large boy now sweating nervously at the sudden attention.

"What do you suggest be done?" she asks Yori.

"There are three things to choose from. You can release him to Hayato and allow him to tell Hayato what you've done. You can convince him to risk everything he has and lie to Hayato. Or you can end his involvement here."

The spy makes an audible gulp, but it doesn't take her long to decide. She taps the boy on his back with Bakuzan.

"You, spy."

He shakily turns his head and looks at her. A fearful look spreads across his face as he looks upon her as she glares at him.

"You will return to Hayato and tell him we have done as he wished and whatever else he wishes to hear. Do not tell him what has truly transpired or I will make you regret it."

"Y-Y-Yes m-m-ma'am" he whimpers. She lifts Bakuzan from his back and the boy immediately jumps to his feet and runs across the path they plan to take home.

"We'll give him two hours; let's head down to the village and let Gamagoori rest."

 **An hour later…**

Yori looks out the window of the bus. Outside was a collection of children of all ages. In their hands they hold instruments, most of which are improvised.

"Ok everyone, from the top!" he hears Jakuzure order from the top of the bus. The children begin to play some classical song he barely cares to listen to. He leans back, props his feet on the seat in front of his, and closes his eyes. After a moment he hears the door open as the click of heels echoes through the small space.

"So I didn't hit the big guy too hard did I?" he said without opening his eyes.

"He will be fine, but that is not what I am here to discuss."

He lazily opens one eye and looks at her, her stern expression ever present on her face.

"You have amazing power, but it is wasted in Chiyo. You will never find glory here on this mountain. Come and be my sparring partner and I promise you will grow to be one of the greatest warriors in history."

He lets out a low rumbling chuckle as he closes his eye once more. "Life isn't just about glory no more than it is about sacrifice or the reach of your influence, or whatever it is that you got those two to follow you for. I will not be a pawn designed to serve your goal, you must reach it through your own will and find your own way to become stronger." He cracks his eye to see a surprised and disappointed look in her eyes that he didn't expect, even if her face has not changed. He sighs before continuing, "If you would face me, seek me out here and I will allow it. But I will not follow you blindly because I respect you."

Her look changes back to one of determination, "Then I will be back once I have dealt with Hayato."

 **Back at Hayato's Den...**

Hayato is facing away from her as she enters the room below the freezer, without slowing from her casual walk she moves to the man.

"Well I see you made it back," he laughs, "Why don't we finish this deal but I do have a few things added to the contract you may need to read unless you're too tired. If you want you could just—UGH! What are you doing?!"

Satsuki lifts him up, holding the shorter man at eye level with one hand while she holds Bakuzan to his neck with the other. "To think you could manipulate me into being your scare tactic was foolish Hayato Suzambo. Now you will pay for that foolishness."

The weak fool breaks almost immediately to her surprise as he begins jabbering about doing whatever she wants. Hayato is lucky his business skills are more important to her than his physical capability or this conversation would end very differently.


	3. Chapter 3

"What the hell is he?!"

"Run away!"

Yori rushes forward, catching the fleeing boy by the collar of his shirt. Yanking him hard he slams the boy into the concrete walkway of the cemetery. Before the other can escape he lifts the wooden baseball bat from next to the now incapacitated boy below him and takes aim. Throwing it horizontally it strikes the back of the last thug's legs, causing to tumble over. Before the boy can reorient himself Yori moves over to him and strikes. Once he his sure the last thug is unconscious he looks back at ten others.

It has been a week and a half since Satsuki took Hayato away from Chiyo, taking most of Hayato's higher ranked people with him. Everything in the Chiyo underworld was left to Hayato's little brother. This lead to a massive downward spiral, Kazu Suzambo was too immature for his newfound position. All he did was use his unearned power to overindulge in all the pleasures a privileged nine year old desired while the unchained monster of Chiyo city's criminal element ran rampant.

Yori knew this was only the start and it reminds him of how things used to be. In a year things would be like they were, back to the way that led him to visit this place. Walking back to the grave he was here to visit he places a hand on it.

"You can be a hard man to find."

His ears perk in surprise as he turns to the familiar voice.

"I see you have returned, Satsuki Kiryuin. Where are the others?"

"I left them to oversee construction of the great city I am building. I have no more need of protection from these pigs than you."

"True." He said as he looked. There were recent rusty scuff marks on the white sheath probably used to block some pipe and a bit of blood on the sleeve of her dress.

"So where is it that we shall spar? Do you have any particular place in mind?"

"Straight to business then…" he looks around, the crowded walkways are only cluttered more by the thugs who litter the place, "this will do."

He hears her begin to pull her sword from its sheath and looks back to find her already in a fighting stance.

He can't help but smile, he is glad that she came back. While Chiyo did provide a basic distraction with the choices the people made and the fights he would have, there was something special about Satsuki. Perhaps it was because he could see something familiar in her gaze as their eyes locked. Perhaps it was because she continued to intrigue him with the choices she made, to place more importance on him rather than overseeing her project. Or perhaps he simply knew their fights would make them both stronger, a mutual exchange of skill between warriors.

As she charged at him he knew at this moment none of it mattered, all he needs to focus on was the girl in front of him.

 **Six hours later…**

Satsuki shot up, feeling her head throb slightly as she done so. She finds she is on some grassy knoll in an unfamiliar park.

"I see you're awake." She hears Yori's voice say from somewhere nearby. Looking around she finds him lounging against a large tree with a fresh gash in its side. The memory shoots back into her mind, their fight had spilled out of the cemetery and uphill into a park in upper Chiyo. The confrontation had ended when Yori baited her to slice into the thick tree and he landed direct hit to her stomach when he ducked.

"How long was I unconscious?" she asked.

"Only fifteen minutes. That is one impressive blade you have there. I didn't expect it to cut through this old thing so easily." He replied as he motions to the ancient tree.

"My Bakuzan is no ordinary blade. It can cut through almost anything."

He laughs, "I should have known an extraordinary woman would need an extraordinary blade to keep pace with her. I'm probably lucky to still have my fingers."

He pushes himself off the ground and onto his feet and moves to her, offering his hand.

"Let's get something to eat, I'm starving."

 **One year later…**

Satsuki looks around the path leading out of Upper Chiyo and into the mountains. Even with things devolved as they have become here in Chiyo she assumed she scared the imbecile who attacked her enough to give her an honest location. She looks at the buildings; the stone manors of some of the rich who lived on the outskirts of the town have been defaced with graffiti. In fact almost every building is tagged other than the Suzambo residence and a select few others. Kazu, while incompetent compared to Hayato, apparently understood he had to draw a line somewhere else he would lose everything. As she turns she finally sees Yori making his way up the path. As he sees her he flashes a smile and pulls one hand from his jacket to give her a quick wave.

"We're doing something different this week." Yori said as he leads her out of the city.

"We've had the same routine every week for a year." Satsuki begins as she follows him, "Why the sudden change?"

"I've been hearing rumors for a while now of mining towns being destroyed. I normally wouldn't take stock in rumors, especially considering what has been said to cause it. I assumed that someone chose to take advantage of Kazu's loose reigns after all this time, but after you mentioned you lost contact with the old man's town last week. I chose to check it out, and I finally saw proof of it with my own eyes."

"Proof of what, exactly?"

"That an Oni now stalks the mountain."

She stops, dumbfounded, perhaps she hit him too hard last week. The very idea of a demon being mentioned in this modern age is ridiculous, let alone that someone like Yori would accept it as fact.

He stops and turns to her. She makes sure he is met with a disapproving stare.

"Just trust me; I've already tracked it down to its cave, if it turns out to be nothing we can just spar there, the change of scenery will do us good anyway"

She reluctantly sighs, "Lead the way, but if this turns out to be a waste of my time be prepared to pay for it."

 **A few hours later…**

Yori crouches and checks the collection of footprints scorched onto the stone. Oddly enough he can tell from the heat of the prints headed towards the mine in front of them that the monster must be within. He looks back to Satsuki, her stoic expression ever present and a serious look in her eyes.

He could hardly blame her, the burned shacks and puddles of glowing red blood that radiated heat like fire wasn't something in the ordinary.

"It's inside, so since I drug you out here I'll let you choose. Do we fight this thing here, or do you just want to go back to Chiyo and I'll handle this later."

"You will not fight this thing alone, understood?" she demands as she gives him a serious look.

"If you don't come with me there's not really someone else I can call, and I've already chose to fight this thing one way or another."

Satsuki's gaze intensifies with irritation but breaks slightly to the right after a moment. Was she worried? He realizes she may know something about the Oni, and her orders were likely for his own wellbeing…or perhaps her desire not to lose her sparring partner.

She moves around him, "Come, I do not have time to waste."

Travelling into the mine he feels the temperature almost immediately rise. As they move deeper the temperature continues to climb and they begin to pass by more puddles of glowing hot blood which grow larger as they continue. The light of the glowing blood lights the tunnel as it begins to slope downward.

As they descend he can hear a gurgling noise from ahead and can see a strange inhuman shadow moving eerily in the dim light on the floor ahead. As the floor levels out once more he finally sees the creature with his own eyes from its place surrounded by many bones.

It is easily twice his height as it stands on two legs from its hunched position. It has vicious black spines that jut from its odd red hide that appears like moving string dancing across its body. It turns to face them, revealing the disfigured face of a bear with unnaturally long teeth. All the while there is steam rising around the creature as it seems to leak more of the glowing red blood from out of its maw and nose. As it looks at them with empty white eyes it pulls its breath in sharply.

He throws his hands over his ears as the Oni releases an ear splitting roar that nearly blurs his vision. Even with his ears covered he can hear the roar continue to echo in the cave around them as the creature charges them. The monster charges with unnatural speed. He barely has time to dodge as it runs over where he and Satsuki were standing. He quickly looks over to find Satsuki dodged in the opposite direction. He looks back to the Oni to find the creature swinging a clawed hand around as it turns. Taking the opportunity he jumps over the claw and aims for the creatures stomach as soon as he hits the ground.

When he makes contact it's like punching a steel furnace, and while the monster stumbles slightly he knows it wasn't nearly effective enough. He begins to jump back, but he feels the Oni's second claw wrap around him. The creatures grip is uncomfortably hot as he is lifted to eye level with the beast. It opens its maw but before it can attempt to swallow him Satsuki is in the air next to him. She slashes the beast in the face. It roars in pain as it back steps and drops him to cradle its wound.

"Your fists are useless against this monster; distract it so that I may finish it with my Bakuzan!"

He groans, but complies; the only other choice would put both of them in danger for no reason but his pride.

The Oni recovers and charges back at them. He moves forward himself, sliding under the beast as it reaches its claws forward to grab him. As he is passing under the Oni some of its blood splashes onto his leather jacket. He can feel the heat grow on the sleeve. By the time he is able to get it off the jacket is already smoking. The Oni turns and throws a backhand once more. He leaps over it but is forced to block as the second hand slaps him across the room, he feels his back impact one of the wooden supports as the thick post quickly buckles under the force.

The pain is sharp as he drops from the post to the stone floor. Growling to himself as he stands he sees Satsuki prepare to strike the Oni in its side. The beast grumbles as it turns its back to her. Its spikes flatten momentarily just as Satsuki brings Bakuzan down on the monster. There is the sound of clashing steel as the blade is to his surprise stopped. The spikes then snap back to their original position catapulting Satsuki across the room into the path of a large burning blood puddle. He rushes forward, making it to Satsuki just before she is above the puddle. He grabs her from the air and sets her back on the ground as the Oni turns to face them once more.

"That was close, how is that thing able to block Bakuzan?"

"This creature is being empowered by life fibers; those spines are likely just as hard as Bakuzan."

"Life fibers?" he asked as the Oni begins to step back.

"I do not have time to explain. Just know that its weakness is likely protected by those spines. You must hold its attention while I attack."

He nods just as the Oni roars and charges at them. As it splashes through the burning puddle they were in front of moments before, it reaches into the wall and deliberately rips a support from it. The wood of the supports groan as the Oni winds up for a toss, the end of the wood dipping into the puddle and beginning to catch flame. Snapping forward he tosses the support at Satsuki. With one well timed slash she cuts through the support. Each piece however strikes more supports behind her. A rumbling fills the cavern as the groaning wood is replaced with a sickening cracking noise.

"This place is coming down! We have to go!" he yelled over to Satsuki.

She nods without looking away from the Oni and quickly moves to his position, "Which path leads above ground?"

Quickly scanning the floor he finds the tracks of the beast leading to the exit tunnel just before it roars once more.

"This way!"

As they move to the exit he hears the Oni begin to chase them. He knows better than to look back in a situation like this but he can tell from the feeling of heat behind him that the monster was close. Suddenly there is the snapping of wood and the crashing of stone behind them as they fight up the hill with the Oni in pursuit. The vibrating ground makes the climb arduous for likely anyone but them. The ground levels out once more and he and Satsuki have to resort to deftly avoiding puddles and leftover mining equipment. The flatter ground and cluttered terrain allows them to gain a lead on the monster and he can see a light ahead. He hears a grunt of exertion come from the Oni, and against his better judgement he looks back. Just behind the Oni the stone of the cave is collapsing. Hurling towards them is a mine cart full of acetylene fuel tanks.

"Satsuki, down!"

As the tankard flies past its contents spill out across the tunnel. One of the tanks strikes the wall, the metal bending and releasing a hissing before it falls into the puddle below it. It quickly explodes and causes rocks to fall ahead of them. He stands quickly as does Satsuki as they charge forward. As if the very world is against them in this moment all of the tanks ahead seem drawn to various puddles. The shock of one of the explosions knocks Satsuki off of her feet. He skids to a stop and turns. Grabbing her arm he helps her to her feet and they continue to push on. The roof of the mine gets steadily lower and he hears the claws of the Oni scratch the ground as it is likely forced into a crawl just before the exit. Diving forward just as the last support breaks he rolls and stops in the snow as the last of the stone falls behind them. He stands and turns back, just at the collapsed mine he sees the claw of the Oni sticking out from the rubble. Looking down at himself he sees that his red shirt is ruined, full of rips and tears, so he removes it. He begins tearing some of the shirt into strips and shoving them into his pockets while he uses others to wrap some of the shallow cuts on his arms and his fist from the initial punch to the beast.

"Well, that was a good hunt. It's a shame he's buried under that rubble, I could've made an awesome coat from that things hide."

"It is not over." He hears Satsuki say.

As if on que the so far still claw of the Oni grips the ground. The stones blocking the cave launch forward in one huge wave. They barely have time to dodge as the stones crush what little is left of the building behind where they stood. Dust clouds the entrance of the collapsed mine from view but inside the cloud he can make out the burning blood of the Oni as it illuminates the monsters jaw.

The Oni moves slowly out of the dust. It stops and looks around with its empty white eyes but stops as it sees Satsuki. He knew he had to distract the Oni, so before the monster could do anything he scoops up a rock and throws it directly at the things nose. It shoots its dead glare on him as it roars; it stomps past Satsuki and attempts to scoop him up. He jumps up and lands on top of the wrist of the creature before pushing off of it to strike the Oni's nose once more. The Oni stumbles back once more and prepares to grab him once he lands but stops. Just before he can no longer see over the creature he sees Satsuki make another attempt at his back.

Somehow the creature knows the attack is coming as its mismatched spines form the turtle shell on its back once more. The sound of clashing steel erupts and a veritable shockwave kicks up the snow as she makes contact with the shell. Before she can pull away the spines snap back to their original position. After a moment he hears a small splashing noise and as he quickly pulls away from the Oni he sees Satsuki has landed in a small puddle of the burning blood. Without losing her focused glare she slips her Bakuzan quickly along each of her thigh high boots and quickly moves out of them just as they begin to burn.

"We need to try something else." He said as the Oni turned to fully face Satsuki. He allows everything else to slow and focuses on just the Oni. He shoots forward and jumps at the monsters back. As he expected the creature seems to have a sixth sense as it begins to lower its spines. Before the largest can finish lowering he reaches for it and takes hold of it.

It is difficult to hold the spine up as it attempts to close the shell as well as maintain a foothold on the creature, especially with it thrashing about. Thankfully the spines hold none of the heat that the creature's main body possesses as he uses the clamped spines to hold himself to the beast. The spine threatens to snap closed whether or not his hand remains under it when suddenly the Oni falls to its knees. He quickly forces his way around the spine to begin pulling it. He hears the Oni growl as it sways and swings its claws around but he barely notices as he pulls with all of his might.

Suddenly he hears the sound of tearing fabric as he and the spine snap off of the Oni. He hits the ground and rolls a few feet before stopping himself. He sees the Oni roaring in what he assumes is pain as it reaches around to its back. Once it stops it turns to him and barrels at him on all fours, its disfigured maw readying to devour him. Quickly he reaches around for something to defend himself with. His hand clasps onto the spine and he quickly holds the sharpened end between him and the monster. The Oni charges directly into the spine as the black metal like object sinks into its shoulder. Its face it mere inches from him as it snaps its jaws, threatening to splash some of its blood on him. He lifts his foot and kicks the creature square in the nose, using the force to push himself away. Just as he is sliding back something forces his attention away from the Oni.

In the air behind the creature he sees Satsuki diving down on the opening he made for her in the creatures spine shell. She releases a fierce battle cry as she sinks Bakuzan into the creatures back. The creature roars and suddenly the sound of ripping fabric fills the air as the creatures very hide seems to shoot off of it turning into scraps of cloth. What is left in the wake of these events it a large black bear, though it does have characteristics that do not match the black bears native to the area.

He looks up on the creatures back see Satsuki standing dominantly on the back of the animal. The sun has set just right as to allow its light to flow around her as a slight breeze causes her long black hair to flow behind her. In her hand she holds Bakuzan as she sheaths it. The entire scene is beautiful and awe inspiring, as well as showing the strength of the woman in question. He can't help but chuckle at how the moment is the perfect picture of the kind of person she is.

He forces himself to his feet and brushes the snow from the seat of his pants as he walks to her. "So now the hunt is over, right?"

She looks down to him and nods. He thinks he can make out a ghost of a smile on her lips but it could be the suns light playing tricks on him.

"Great, well," he said with a smile as he turns his back to her, "guess you better hop on. We need to get back before dark."

"What do you mean?"

He looks over his shoulder at her, "I'm saying I'm toting you back to Chiyo."

She gives him a very displeased glare.

"I knew you wouldn't like it but this is necessary. You no longer have shoes, and while you got lucky not stepping on any sharp debris frostbite isn't something you can avoid out here."

He can see the hesitation in her cold stare but she relents after a moment. She slides off of the dead bear and onto his back as he cradles her behind his back. Her arms come to a rest on his shoulders as she holds the sheathed Bakuzan in both hands just beyond his chest.

He looks back to her as he begins to move forward, "You comfortable back there? We have a long walk back."

A light blush covers her face as she looks away shyly, "This is highly undignified. I wish fighting that creature didn't cost me my shoes."

"How about this," he said with a smirk, "I'll get you some new shoes when we get back to Chiyo if you'll get me a new jacket."

She growls, "You will provide new shoes for me regardless, do not think I don't know that you can go without a jacket even in this cold mountain air."

"Now is that any way to treat a friend?" he teases, "It is your choice if you want to go without them once we get back but you and I both know I'm not going to get you any just because you demand it."

She gives a light groan but doesn't say anything more as he continues to trudge on through the snow.


	4. Chapter 4

Satsuki takes another sip from her cup of tea while the man who gave it to her took the measurements of her feet. She was surprised at how close to Soroi's tea this came, even if it was slightly lighter in taste than what she usually drank. She looks past the cup down at the man currently using the Brannock Device on her naked feet. His frayed shoulder length white hair would indicate that he was old but his strong, lightly tanned features and muscular frame would indicate otherwise. He is wearing thick hide clothing that he likely made himself though his vest leaves his arms completely exposed, which are charred black up to the elbow.

"If you don't like the tea, don't worry. Mr. Kitae isn't nearly as bad at making leather clothing as he is at brewing tea." Yori said with a laugh from his seat at a table in the corner.

The man in question only gives an unenthused grunt as he continues working. After he takes the last measurement he stands without a word and makes for the door.

"Uh oh, you made him mad. You know better than to suggest his leather is anything but the best."

Satsuki turns to the stairs behind her to see a younger woman who looks to be in her early to mid-twenties descending them. She is wearing a simple dress and an apron. Her brown hair is tied up into a loose bun and her apron is covered with dust.

"I'm sure he knew I was teasing Mariko."

"Well…Oh, who is this?" Mariko asked as she notices her.

"This is Satsuki Kiryuin, my sparring partner. Satsuki, this is Mariko Kizuna, the daughter of the man that is going to make you your replacement shoes."

"Pleased to meet you," Mariko said with a bow, "wait…did you say Kiryuin?"

In a flash the woman is next to her, a star struck expression on her face, "You're the daughter of Ragyo Kiryuin! Ohmygosh, why is a Kiryuin here? You must have plenty of beautiful cloths."

"My shoes were destroyed…"

She is unable to finish as the girl's starry eyed expression fades into horror and she lets out a shriek. Suddenly she is across the room, a fiery expression on her face as she stands over Yori.

"What did you do?!"

To Yori's credit he seems unfazed by the woman, "Nothing, she lost her shoes when we were fighting the Oni everyone has been talking about. So I brought her to get some new shoes.

Mariko's expression lights up once more, "And now someone affiliated with Revocs is about to get something my dad made." She shoots another glare at Yori, "I'm going to make sure Daddy doesn't mess up her shoes because you insist on being an idiot."

Without another word the woman takes a coat from the rack and heads outside after her father.

"Sorry about that. Mariko passes by a Revocs boutique every day when she heads to the school to teach, but can't afford the cloths. She still finds the fashion fascinating and studies every detail about your mother's company. I didn't think about how she'd react when she heard your name."

"She should stop caring about Revocs." she replied sternly.

"Does that have something to do with these Life Fibers you mentioned during the fight, or something else?"

She takes another sip of her tea before looking directly at Yori. "What I am about to explain to you cannot leave this room."

Rather than make a quip about how she was demanding something of him he gains a serious look on his face and nods.

She begins to explain everything she knows of the nature of Life Fibers. She avoids any mention of her plan to oppose her mother while giving as much relevant information she deemed necessary for Yori to know about Revocs. All the while Yori simply sits quietly as listens. He poses no questions as to how the strange parasitic cloth organism strengthens the wearer, nor does he deny the notion that Life Fibers are responsible for the evolution of humanity.

Once she finishes they sit there in an uncomfortable silence for more than a few moments. Finally Yori breaks the silence.

"I know you haven't told me everything, but I assume you have your reasons. If these Life Fibers aim to truly take our free will I've made the choice to stop them."

"You would face them alone?"

"If I have to…"

"You would throw your life away?

"If it would protect the freedom to make our own choices, yes."

She lets his answer hang in the air for a moment as she looks at him. Now more than ever she could see the similarities between them, but she could see the differences too. Why is he so adamant that the pigs of the masses to have their will to choose? In the end the only choices that really mattered were the ones made by people like themselves. Shaking these thoughts she takes this chance to once more attempt to recruit Yori.

She stands, "Then I now offer to you again a chance to join me. I will provide you with the strength to reach your goal."

He stands and looks her in the eye, until his gaze breaks. For the first time since she's met him she sees uncertainty in his eyes. "L…Let me think about it, I'll have your answer tomorrow."

He moves away from her and begins to head to the door. Once his hand touches the knob he continues without turning to her, "If you need somewhere to stay I'm sure the Kizuna's won't mind, and it'll make it easier for Mr. Kitae to get you your shoes."

Without another word he opens the door, exiting just as Mariko enters once more. She sits down in the chair Yori left behind as the young woman closes the door.

"Are you alright, Ms. Kiryuin? Yori wasn't rude to you was he?" Mariko asked from the door.

"No." she replied bluntly.

"Oh, then I guess he told you about Akane. Their story would make anyone sad."

Was she making a dejected expression to bring this on? Regardless she knew she was giving the young woman an inquisitive look now.

"You mean…he didn't tell you?"

"I asked him to come join me at the school I am building. He told me he would have my answer tomorrow."

Mariko sighs and heads to the kitchen area to her right and fills herself a cup of the tea before moving to the seat across from her.

"I probably shouldn't say anything. My dad knows more about what happened than me, and it's his tale to tell besides. I just know that he has been through something tragic. It is nice you're going to get him out of this town."

"As I mentioned, he has not decided to leave with me just yet."

Mariko lets out a hum as she stands, Satsuki spies a sly smirk on the young woman's face before she turns, "Anyway if you need to somewhere to stay we have a spare room this way." She gestures for her to follow, "Daddy should be done with your new shoes in a couple hours."

 **That night…**

Satsuki's eyes snap open as she hears a knock. She slowly gets off the bed and moves to the door. She opens it to find a pair of white boots on the floor. The faint glow of candlelight hits her peripheral vision as she bends down and picks them up. From the first touch she can tell that they are exquisitely made, firm and strong, yet smooth and the inside soft and lined with cushioned fabric.

She heads back to the bed and slips them on. Tying the blue strings up to her upper shin she flexes her feet. As expected they would need some breaking in, but even as they were they were extremely comfortable. She moves back to the doorway and looks down the stairs, seeing a silhouette hitting the wall.

She quietly heads down to investigate, finding Mr. Kitae sitting at the table sipping a cup of tea. He gently places the cup back on its saucer before speaking, his voice rumbles like distant thunder as he speaks, "Are the shoes satisfactory?"

"Yes. They are excellently crafted. I am surprised someone of your skill is living in such a modest shack outside the city."

He grunts, "I live here for the memories I shared with Mariko's mother, but come." He waves her over, "I must speak to you about Yori."

She walks over and lowers herself into the seat across from the old leatherworker.

He looks into the cup of tea as he begins, "Mariko tells me Yori will be leaving to join you at your school."

"As I said to her, he has not decided anything yet. He wished to think on it until the morning."

The old man simply takes another sip of tea before continuing, "I know the boy well. I found him in the woods south of the city four years ago. He was barely alive, on the run for murder."

This sudden revelation came as such a surprise to her that she was too shocked to question what relevance this conversation had. Without pause Kitae continued.

"There I taught him how to survive, helped him to grow strong. I showed him that he could gain much from every encounter. This paired with his unnatural wisdom and obsession with choices led him to be a great warrior." He looks up from the cup, his expression stern, "However he has one problem, he hadn't moved on from that night he ended up in those woods. He has had no purpose beyond battle and observation. That was until now. I don't know how but you've somehow got him contemplating leaving Chiyo. You must convince him to leave this place."

She frowns, "If you know him as well as I have come to we both know he is not one to be convinced. He makes his own decisions."

"That is true, but I think you'll be able to sympathize with him. Now here," he hands her a map of Chiyo city, the cemetery she found Yori in a year ago circled on it. "He is likely at Akane's grave. If you have been coming here for a year you likely already know where that is."

"She shakes her head, "First I have questions."

"Ask him any questions you wish. I have already revealed more than I had a right to."

Satsuki moves through the cemetery slowly. She could see Yori ahead, standing stoically in front of the same headstone she found him in front of before. She stops a short distance away and waits for him to speak. He is silent as he stands there. She notices he is standing almost exactly as he was before, and she was as well.

"You can be a hard man to find." She said.

He looks to her, a smirk on his face, "I should have known you were a cheesy romantic."

A blush overtakes her as she lets out a growl, "Why do you enjoy teasing me so?"

He responds with a soft smile but turns back to the headstone without a word. She moves next to him to find the name Akane written on it.

"May I ask who she was to you?" she asked softly.

He sighed softly, "How much did Kitae tell you?"

"That you murdered someone, and that he is the one who taught you to hunt and made you desire strength."

"I won't bore you with too many of the details. Akane was like a sister to me in the orphanage we lived in, but the Master…" Yori's fist clenched, "he…hurt us, made us hurt each other for the pleasure of bad men. For most of my life I thought that was my fate, to be an obedient slave. Akane was strong willed though, she kept me saner than most. She tried to teach me that even when we feel like our choices didn't matter they did, and we could always make a change. In the end I learned that lesson too late. The Master hurt her…eventually killed her. Then I killed him, threw the monster out a window. He had "friends" in the mob though, so I ran. Kitae found me, trained me. In the end I was strong enough to come back to Chiyo. Once I was free of the mob however I realized I no longer had a purpose. I was a warrior, but I was still alone in Chiyo, left to be an observer…"

He looks to her, and she meets his eyes. They were the same, this Master was to him what her mother was to her, and Akane was the same as the family her mother took from her. But did that mean that the purposelessness was her fate once she defeated her mother?

"…that is, until you came. Now you've given me a new purpose, but I find I'm unsure whether I should leave with you. Do I truly wish to follow you because I wish to stop Revocs, or is it because I've fallen for you."

She was shocked, frozen as he began to stroke her cheek softly, but that wasn't right. She was Satsuki Kiryuin; nothing should leave her so dumbstruck. Her body, seemingly unbidden, begins to lean into his, but as their faces draw closer she finally finds the will to pull away slightly and turns away.

"I have no time for this sort of affair; it is too dangerous for me…" She said as firmly as she could.

Taking a deep breath she continues, "What I must do, there is no guarantee of survival for me, let alone those around me. I cannot risk failure to pursue..."

She feels Yori place a hand lightly on her shoulder and she turns, meeting his determined gaze.

"We won't fail." He states with confidence.

"I still must stay focused on my goal."

She could tell from the heat in his gaze that he likely wouldn't let this go, and a small part of her wanted this. No ordinary man could make her feel this way, but getting to know him over the past year she knew that he was anything but. However what she said was true, she couldn't afford such a distraction. But perhaps…she strokes his cheek, "Perhaps if we survive…I will consider this, but I must focus on ending my mother, I owe my father and baby sister the same kind of justice you achieved for Akane."

He is silent for a moment, perhaps she should leave him behind, but she knew she couldn't lose a valuable resource.

He trails his hand down her shoulder and gently grabs her hand, "We will survive, and I'll hold you to that." He gives her a devious smirk as he pulls her hand up and kisses it lightly, "But that doesn't mean I won't keep trying to change your mind before then."

She sighs, but can't help but smile, if anything this was yet another thing that drew her to him, "I would expect nothing less, but you will find I will be quite resistant to any honeyed words."

"I'll think of something."


	5. Chapter 5

Yori looks out the front window of the helicopter as they fly over the Tokyo Bay. Suddenly a veritable mountain of cluttered buildings appears in a spot where there should be only water. First they fly over a slum, but the rickety brown roofs of the houses are soon replaced with the silver-white color of sky-scrapers, most of which are under construction. Then for a split second he spies some half-built mansions in the side of a large tower as the chopper begins to raise more. The first thing he sees as it reaches the peak of the spire is a huge wall. As the chopper crests the wall he spies a large, oddly shaped building that is topped off by a tower that is slightly taller than the walls.

"Welcome to Honnouji Academy." He heard Satsuki say as their ride flies to the top of the tower.

"This is amazing Lady Satsuki!" Mariko exclaims.

He was surprised Satsuki brought her along, but Mariko probably more than made her case. Even if they handled it in private he knew Mariko was smart and a good enough fighter. Satsuki probably needed a teacher that could keep up with students capable of things even a fraction of the Oni's power, and Mariko fit that bill.

The chopper lands and the doors next to Satsuki open. She stands and steps out, followed by Mariko. He does the same and moves up to follows Satsuki. They are met by a contingent of boys and girls wearing light blue sailor uniforms.

"You," Satsuki directs at one of the people, "Take this woman to the teachers' lounge. The rest of you go and take that to the sewing club, and have Iori report to me immediately!" They all respond with a yes "ma'am" and he watches as they move to the corpse of the ex-Oni that Satsuki insisted they bring back with them. Looking away he can see Mariko and her guide passing between two familiar people ahead.

"Good to see you joined us Boy Scout. You finally earn your mountaineer patch and realize the city is more fun?" Jakuzure quipped with a smirk. Satsuki pushes onward without a word and they all follow her into the building.

"Good to see you too but I don't know…I doubt anything will be as fun to hunt as that. I'm looking forward to being pleasantly surprised though." He replied. He looks from the petite girl to the giant walking next to her and gives a nod, "How're you doing Gamagoori?"

"I am well." The dark skinned blonde replied as he returns the nod.

The hallway begins to darken, and in the distance he can see a cracked curtain with a slightly brighter light coming from within. He follows the group inside and finds a kind of living room crossed with a throne room. The red carpet is accentuated by the white of the walls and the steps that lead up to what he assumes is Satsuki's chair judging by its position and the butler. In the center just down the stairs there is a white coffee table surrounded by two Whit chairs with red cushions. One of these chairs is filled with stuffed animals and a pink heart pillow.

"Good to see you have returned, Miss." The butler said to Satsuki as he offers her a cup of tea. She takes it and sits on her throne. Gamagoori and Jakuzure take seats next to the table, Jakuzure quickly snuggling into the chair with the stuffed animals while Gamagoori squats into the seat across from her. He shrugs and moves around the table as well and moves up the steps as well stopping at the last one and sitting.

"So," he said as he leaned forward onto his knees with his arm and hand, "what's the next?"

"When Iori arrives you will be fitted for a uniform, as well as a jacket." Satsuki said, "Once we have your size for your uniform we will need to test your resistance to Life Fibers."

He turns to her fully from his seat, "Not sure I need those…" he begins.

"Do not worry; I do not expect you to use it until necessary, and you will be made a second uniform without them so that we may spar on equal footing. To accomplish my goal even I will likely be using their power before the end, however. So I must test your resistance to them now." She interrupted.

"You know me so well." he responded adding a smirk, "Fine, for you I'll choose to take this test."

"You asked for me, Lady Satsuki?"

Looking back to the doorway he finds a boy with long blond hair. He is wearing a lab coat and an odd orange breathing mask of some sort.

"Come and take measurements of this man here. I want him fitted for a uniform as well as a jacket using the leather of the large bear we slew. Also check for any remaining life fibers on the creature and have them studied. The Oni that the bear used to appear as seemed to be possessed by the fibers, but neither we nor Revocs had anything to do with its appearance."

"Yes ma'am." He said seriously as the boy quickly moves around behind Jakuzure and approaches him, "I'm going to need you stand and remove your clothing so that I can get precise measurements."

He can't help the devious grin that pops on his face as he turns to face Satsuki, "You ready for a show" he said lowly. He can hear her scoff slightly but she offers him a small smirk none the less as he begins to remove a Chiyo middle school uniform for the final time.

 **One year later…**

Satsuki makes a diving slash for Yori, but the man simply catches the blade. Their bouts have become even more intense since she had gifted him with his new weapon Kurahaji. The life fiber reinforced pair of clawed gauntlets were made using some of the ancient life fibers found on the Ursus Etruscus they slew. She was still curious as to how the creature survived to this day, but her assumption was that the hibernation of both creatures in their parasitic relationship coincided. The creature likely simply slept until her mother caused the life fibers to reawaken.

Using his other hand he grips her waist, sliding Bakuzan past himself as he pulls her into a head-butt. She meets his head midway with her own and as they pull apart she quickly turns and strikes his ribs with the flat end of Bakuzan. As they pant she notices a slight breeze hitting her midriff, which is now exposed with a scratched tear in the clothing.

"Getting tired?" he huffed. Though his voice sounds tired his eyes belie it, showing focus and energy.

Before she can respond there is an alert sounding from the intercom and she sheaths her sword. Yori groans as she quickly grabs a shirt from the rack on the sidelines of their little sparing chamber and begins changing into it.

"It was just getting fun too. I hope that it's not Hayato reporting another of his dad's stocks being hacked. He should know by now you aren't going to do anything about it, you've made that choice known to him long ago."

This is true. Honno City was nearly complete, and Hayato had yet to truly prove himself trustworthy enough for him to be privy to her plan to end her mother. He is barely recruiting any more students from the northern schools, and the Takarada's have taken over most of their business in southern Japan thanks to this hacker ruining their stocks. If Hayato has lost his edge and couldn't even catch a simple man then he was no longer of use to her.

As they maneuver through the halls of the Academy tower they arrive in Hayato's chamber. Styled like an old American mobsters place with a modern flair she sees an unfamiliar face on the monitor in the back.

"Glad to see that you kept enough professionalism to arrive _Lady_ Satsuki." The podgy man said with a small amount of venom in his scratchy voice.

She grabs the handle of Bakuzan, prepared to slice the hat off of the insolent pig, but Yori stops her. She looks disapprovingly at her partner but sees him point to the monitor. She barely catches one of the data streams reading Revocs briefly before it is replaced with other data.

"Hopefully now you'll do something about this little bastard. He's hacked into Revocs stocks instead of screwing with Suzambo property." The beak nosed man says as he turns to face her.

She looks to Hayato and then back at the picture on the monitor. Hacking Suzambo's stocks was one thing; she had no idea of their defenses. Compared to Revocs, however, they were likely worthless. This Inumuta boy may prove useful, but she needed to get to him before her mother did.

"Do you know where he is?" she asked.

"Yeah, and he's not even that far off. That doesn't matter though. He always seems to know when I'm closing in on him, and always gets away before I get the chance to throttle him." Hayato growled.

She turns to Yori, "Put on your jacket, help Hayato hunt this man."

"I don't know, I'm sure Mariko will kill us if we're late for tutoring." He teases.

"I don't need your help anyway," Hayato barks as he stomps around them, "The chopper'll be ready in ten minutes Kiryuin."

As Hayato leaves she looks to Yori, who looks back to her and shrugs.

"Inumuta will make an excellent resource."

"I was going to hunt him anyway." He says as he slips on the jacket he had draped on his shoulder. As the article of clothing comes into position on his form his eyes seem to sharpen and he takes in a large breath. He allows her to lead as they make their way to the roof, "It's bound to be interesting. Maybe we can have a race, Hayato versus me."

She thinks for a moment, "Very well, perhaps if he can best you in this manhunt he can redeem himself."

 **Fifteen minutes later…**

Yori is still impressed with how much his senses are improved thanks to the life fibers. Not two minutes in the apartment Hayato tracked this Inumuta boy to and he already had his scent memorized and could make out the boys trail out. He is moving quicker than he ever could before as he follows the trail out the window. From his perch on the fire escape he can see the boy in question make his way into an alley. Launching himself up to the roof of the building across the street he continues to follow him. He begins picking up the scent of Hayato's guys closing in, so he moves ahead, attempting to get ahead of the hacker. He jumps down, using Kurahaji to slow his descent by clawing into the wall.

He hits the ground with a thud and hears a surprised gasp. He looks up but finds the hacker has already dashed into a door to his left. He groans because he knows it is already too late. He catches Hayato's old blood and money scent mixing with the boy's scent of metal and plastic.

He hears an impact sound before Hayato speaks, "I hope you're ready kid. Once Kiryuin gives me the go ahead I'm gonna put a bullet in your head."

He stands and enters the building, quickly passing through to the road on the other side finding the entire collection of Hayato's crew and Inumuta looking up at the chopper above them. A light washes over them and he looks up to find Satsuki in her usual commanding stance looking down on them.

"Lady Satsuki. As you can see I am the one who caught the little pipsqueak. On your order, I'll neutralize him for his infractions against our businesses."

"You will not. Inumuta, you have caused minor damage, but come tomorrow no one will remember what you have done. Come with me, and you will make great changes in the real world instead of a virtual one."

Yori looks over to the hacker, and he can tell simply from the look on his face that he will agree. Looking next to the man he finds Hayato red and his jaw clenched.

"You have my attention, perhaps I will join you."

 **Three months later…**

Yori looks down at Honno City from the wall of the academy. The great winding tram that leads around the mountainous structure and to the school was complete. So were all the buildings, each filled with people preparing themselves for the true opening of Honno City.

"It's beautiful." He hears Mariko say breathlessly after a moment.

"Indeed, I am surprised you did not attempt to bring Lady Satsuki here to see it, Yori." Gamagoori said.

"Oh I tried," he replies with a sigh, "but Hayato needed her. Something to do with these "Goku Uniforms" that the student body is going to receive."

"That's too bad for you Boy Scout." Jakuzure said

"Too bad for all of us," He hears Inumuta say from over his turtleneck. The teal haired boy is sitting hunched over his laptop completely ignoring the view. "We're stuck out here until she gives her speech…that's strange."

"What is…" he barely has time to react as one of Hayato's people comes at him from nowhere. She is wearing a uniform with a black star on it. Her battle cry is silenced as he makes contact with her stomach, but the speed at which she was moving was enough to slide him back a few inches. Immediately following this attack the group is swarmed by what must be the majority of Hayato's gang still within the Academy. All of them wear similar uniforms except for one. That one wears something similar to an old mob suit complete with a fedora in the same light blue of the school uniforms. On his hat Yori sees two stars.

"Get'em guys an gals. Hayato needs these wimps sleepin wit da fishes, an if ya fail he's given me explicit permission to ice ya." The two-star said.

"What's going on?!" He yelled. He uses a palm strike to launch a thug into a collection of his approaching allies knocking them over like bowling pins and catches another with a fierce roundhouse kick. A third that was attempting to flank him is caught around the throat by a whip and pulled back by Mariko into Gamagoori's waiting fist.

"It seems that Suzambo is attempting a coup." Inumuta says as he kicks away any thugs that approach him without looking away from his computer, "Just before the first attacker arrived I intercepted an e-mail sent to Revocs. It stated Hayato's intent to divulge our Lady's plan to Ragyo in exchange for safe harbor and power."

"That means…" he said before roars violently, the action causing many of the assailants to back away in fear and some to retreat or outright fall where they stood. Hayato was going to get Satsuki killed! He wasn't going to lose her. "Where are they?!"

He hears the two-star yell something but ignores him in favor of Inumuta, "They are in the Student Council chamber, she appears unconscious and he has others, all in uniforms similar to this man with the two-stars.

"Ha, yea. There ain't no way yous guys are gettin outa this one, not even you Yori!" the two-star laughs, "These here Goku Uniforms are legit, even if Satsuki's man Iori didn't make'em. The ones we Capos wear are way betta than these lame-o one-staas, let alone those old protatypes those guys got. You don't even got ya uniform or ya famous jacket to boost ya power. All you got is those gauntlets. You may as well be a ant against me now, capisce!"

Yori wanted to shut this guy up, but he had to choose. Spend who knows how long fighting this guy and his goons, or get to Satsuki. The choice comes easy, executing it might be difficult.

"Inumuta, how many goons between me and Satsuki?"

"At least three per room, if you try to fight your way up to the chamber through the school you'll never make it."

"I have to try."

"Or you could take the express route."

Suddenly a great staircase forms from the roof down to the center of the courtyard. Any other time he would make a crack at Satsuki's need for flair with her little stairway to heaven, but at the moment all that was on his mind was preventing another Akane. He moves to the edge, catching Gamagoori in his peripheral vision.

"I normally don't do this, but you have to stay here." He tells the giant as he prepares to slide down the wall.

"I will not, I am her living shield, I must protect her!" Gamagoori roars as he jumps down.

Yori growls as he slides down the wall and rushes to catch up to the man, dodging around various thugs as he does so, "Look, this is your choice to make, but you'll be too slow getting up these steps. If you really want to protect Satsuki, I need you covering these steps so that these guys don't slow me down."

Gamagoori gives him a stern look, but concedes, "You have a point." they reach the steps, and Gamagoori sweeps away some of the thugs as he turns, "I will not allow a single one of you to stop Yori from delivering justice on your master!"

He leaps over the giant and looks back just long enough to see the others meet up with Gamagoori in time to block a wave of thugs that would threaten to overpower the living shield.

"No way are you getting all the glory, toad!" Jakuzure yells as he turns back and focuses on speeding up the steps.

Satsuki groans as her eyes readjust to her surroundings, she tries to move her arms but finds them bound behind her.

"Finally awake, princess?" Hayato crows. She looks up, growling as she sees him sitting in her chair. He is much thinner than usual in his custom two-and-a-half-star uniform but his legs are still too short to reach the floor. In his hand he holds Bakuzan, the black blade unsheathed as he examines it. "I guessed that the gas wouldn't keep you out for long, but I came prepared."

"You will thoroughly regret betraying me, Suzambo."

"Seems more like you're the one who should be regrettin things. We could've had a beautiful partnership, could've taken all of Japan. Instead you treat trash like Yori as an equal while you treat me like I'm your gaddamn slave!"

Hayato hops down from the chair and begins pacing around the elevated area casually. "After you let that Inumuta brat live after he nearly ruined my family business, I decided it was about time that either you or your family took a nose dive. After I start kowtowing to you to get a chance to strike though you reveal that stuff about your mum taking over the world and you plannin on stopping her. That's when I saw an opportunity, sell you out and the Suzambo's will get a slice of the world."

"You imbecile…!" she roars. Before she can say anything more she is interrupted by a slap to the face by the thug closest to her.

"You don't get to talk down to me anymore you stupid wench," he begins as he points Bakuzan towards her, "maybe I should go ahead and gut you now and just squeeze the truth from your little butler in the corner."

Suddenly the window behind her throne explodes as Yori flies through it feet first striking a thug. The impact throws the thug across the room and before anyone can react Yori has already launched himself towards her. Her guard recovers enough to move but is too slow as Yori catches him with a clothesline that causes him to spin multiple times in the air before he hits the ground head first.

The others all appear in shock at how rapidly Yori dispatched two of their allies. Yori uses one of the two gauntlets that form Kurahaji to cut her bindings then removes the right one.

"I'm really glad you're okay." He stated lowly. His eyes are gentle only for a moment before he looks back to the crowd around them and they obtain the cold gaze reserved when he is truly furious. "Here."

He offers her the gauntlet and she puts it on, it is a little loose for her, but she can make it work.

"What're you twits standing around for?! Get them!" Hayato yelled.

The crime lords shout frees the thugs from their stupor as they rush her and Yori. The first to charge her receives a broad slash across his chest. She only grazes the uniform itself but the force of her strike shatters the uniform and sends its wearer flying. A pair charges from both sides, but she finds the body of another thug suddenly intercepting one. This frees her to strike the other when another charges in mid slash. After she dispatches her initial target she turns just in time to see Yori catch the fist of the fourth thug to attack her. She strikes the immobilized target before he can retaliate as well as another that was attempting to flank Yori.

"If you idiots don't get your act together you can forget getting into the new world order." Hayato growled.

The remaining thugs form up at the exit, and then charge as a singular group, some even pull out airsoft guns shaped like tommy guns and fire. As they make contact she and Yori alternate between attacking their foes and defending each other, moving as if they were one being. The feeling of fighting next to Yori was hard for her to describe, but she was enjoying it. The last thug falls, the group's uniforms in tatters and their wearers groaning or unconscious.

She shoots around, ready to face Hayato only to find the man already upon her swinging Bakuzan down on her with a malicious cackle. Before the sword makes contact she is shoved away, and as she falls away she sees Yori take the swing in her place.

"No!" She screams involuntarily as blood sprays from Yori's chest. Rather than fall however Yori's left claw scratches across Hayato, striking the Banshi and destroying the outfit instantly. He then grips Hayato's neck as he lifts the shorter man up. Hayato gurgles and struggles in vain against the stronger man.

"You threatened the life of the woman I love not once, but twice. Now you face the consequence of your choice." Yori stated, his voice low and deadly.

Hayato's eyes grow wide and nearly bulge from his head as Yori's claw squeezes his neck until there is a sickening crunch. The chubby crime lord goes limp and Yori drops him to the floor. Yori bends down and picks up Bakuzan before turning to her. The cut is in the center of his chest, it is wide, grievous, and still oozing blood. She stands and meets him.

"I believe this is yours." He said tiredly as he hands her Bakuzan.

She barely has time to grasp the sword when Yori begins to fall back. She catches him and lowers him to the floor gently. She can hear a muffled cry from the corner and spies her butler Mitsuzo Soroi in a nearby corner. She moves to the old man and quickly cuts his bindings, "I need your help immediately."

 **A few hours later…**

Yori wakes in the "nurses office", though the room was more like a military sick bay. Oddly enough he can pick up the scent of someone else in the room, but as he sees he isn't dressed in anything but the hospital gown. His senses aren't nearly as sharp as when he wears his uniform or jacket, but their very existence now should be impossible. He sits up to find a nurse nearby, the grown woman looking at him nonchalantly.

"You are awake sooner than expected; Lady Satsuki would like to see you in her quarters. Your pants are on the next cot."

He begins to say something but stops as he notices Satsuki's scent of Mr. Soroi's tea and a sort of fruit medley. He nods to the nurse before getting into the pants and out the door. He follows the scent through the academy. He looks down at his chest, red stitches over a large scar that seems freshly healed. He unconsciously continues to follow the scent as it leads him to the roof.

He opens the roof access door to find Satsuki standing on the edge of the roof at the other end.

He steps forward but stops a short distance away. He was supposed to go to her quarters, why did he follow her trail to the roof?

"I am glad to see you up." Satsuki said as she turned to him. She moves towards him and places a hand on his bare chest, her hand tracing over a scar. "I should have known you wouldn't be killed by a pig like Hayato. It seems to have worked, but your resistance against life fibers used in the emergency treatment I had Soroi preform is the only reason it did."

Now he remembers. Just before he lost consciousness Mr. Soroi had to sew the cut shut with a sliver of the binding thread of Hayato's uninform. It would be assurance from bleeding out before help could arrive, but at the time it was dangerous. The cut was deep enough that the fibers could adversely affect him. The pain it caused drained him of much of his energy until it was done. Then he passed out from exhaustion.

"You didn't make it through the ordeal without a scar, but it adds to your attraction so I would not worry."

He was caught off guard, "Did you just try to flirt with me?"

She smirks and looks to the sunset behind her, "I have had time to think in the hours you have been unconscious after we dealt with Hayato's allies. When you took the swing the pig meant for me I regretted not spending what time I could with you. I had no time with my baby sister, and most of time with my father has faded. My mother took them from me before I could even know them as I have come to know you."

She looks back to him and their eyes meet, "Even if Hayato's betrayal was his own doing, my mother's actions indirectly influenced it, and with it nearly took you as well. With your survival of this ordeal I have decided I will not allow my mother to take away anything else that brings me joy. I am Satsuki Kiryuin! No one holds power over me."

She takes his hand in hers before continuing, "From now on, you are welcome in my quarters so that we may see each other more often. We must keep this private however. Revocs representatives may arrive at any time and my mother is very…possessive of me." She stated uncomfortably. He places a comforting hand on her shoulder; he knew what she meant all too well.

She coughed before she continued, "She would likely have you killed if there was even an inkling of a relationship between us. Also once Honnouji Academy opens I will have to place you among the student body. Hayato has shown I must treat everyone in a similar fashion as I treat those below us or it will cause tension in the leadership. I will not risk my goal or you again in a repeated incident."

He groans slightly, "Two steps forward and one back. That means five days out of the week I'll be stuck in some place in the city while you're here."

"Actually I have Iori finding a way to integrate something into your jacket. It will allow you to be here every night as long as you remain stealthy until you get to my chamber."

He gives her a quizzical look, "Why do I need to be stealthy once inside the tower? Gamagoori, Inumuta, and Jakuzure all already know about us. I'm pretty sure Iori does too on the off chance he's not in the sewing club quarters."

"Do not mistake that Hayato was useless simply because we defeated him. While Inumuta will likely be able to take over his information network and data management, we now need someone capable of leading the students in the field. I have found a suitable replacement, but while Hayato's response seems unique we cannot take that chance."

He nods, and then pulls her closer. She blushes slightly but as he moves to kiss her she stops him. As he looks at her confused she gets a smirk on her face. "We will make the next steps once everything is done. You must have something to look forward to after all."


	6. Chapter 6

"Thank you, Mr. Soroi." Yori said as he gently takes the cup of tea from the old butler's hand.

"No need to thank me Yori. I had simply noticed Lady Satsuki has not yet returned, and assumed you would desire a drink while you waited for her."

"You figured right, I had to fly back to Chiyo today. Mariko hadn't been able to contact her dad in a while."

"Oh? I believe Lady Satsuki mentioned that things were dreadful in Chiyo the last time you were there. Is Mr. Kizuna all right?"

"Yeah, just told me he'd seen a ghost, and asked me not to tell Mariko. Anyway the flight was a little tiring but moving among those rambunctious students here can be more than a little exhausting itself. Trying to guide the strongest can be even more so. At least tracking traitors is a fun diversion."

"Yes, well if I recall you did choose to help aid the young Miss to strengthen the Academy as you have done her."

"True, and as always I stand by my choice. This is much more complicated than sparing, however. I can't just knock them out or rip their uniforms like we used to do." he looks down at his chest, placing his hand on his shirt just above his scarred chest, "I can't manipulate people, it goes against my nature. All I tend to do is provide choices and hope they pick the best one for her ambition."

"You can be assured that if you were preforming horribly Lady Satsuki would likely have told you to not bother."

He smirks, "True, thank you Mr. Soroi."

The old man hums contentedly before he bows and leaves the room. Yori stands, moving to the large window of the Honnoji Academy tower. Looking down he sees the school yard, a large circle of dirt surrounded by a large wall. He knows beyond the wall lie the living arrangements of the students and their families, ranging from the expensive mansions of the Two-Star students down to the slums where the No-Stars reside. He smirks; this place is more interesting than Chiyo would have ever been.

" _We only have a little over a year. Then everyone's choices will culminate with the destruction of Ragyo and Revocs."_ He thinks as he laughs to himself.

"Wow, you must be really weird!" Yori shoots around in response to the sudden feminine voice. He finds himself staring directly into a pair of dark blue eyes. "Standing in Satsuki's room with the lights off laughing to yourself, you may be weirder than me!"

He takes a step back, finding the eyes belonging to a girl maybe a year younger than himself. She has long blond hair styled into long, drill-like pigtails and wears a pink Lolita-styled dress. With this she wears boots and fingerless gloves that match her outfit as well as a parasol and a large pink bow.

"I don't know; you have to be pretty weird to twirl a parasol inside a room you don't belong in. Probably a little dumb to enter the room of Satsuki Kiryuin unannounced." He says as he tenses for a fight.

"Oh, so I'm dumb am I?" she responds through a giggle as she tilts her head slightly

Before he can say another word the door open's quickly. The familiar click of heels echoes through the room as the lights pop on.

"Nui Harime," he hears his lover's voice nearly growl, "what are you doing here?"

"Oh, Satsuki, it's so good to see you, you're looking as beautiful as ever!" Yori can't help but let his eye twitch at the familiar way she said her last sentence, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your little roommate?"

He looks around the odd girl in pink over to Satsuki, her long hair flowing as she stands in a commanding position, her Bakuzan held down at the hilt as she stands in her favorite stance. She focuses her stern gaze at him for a quick moment just before she returns her attention to this Nui Harime.

" _Crap, she's from Revocs."_ He thinks as he prepares to follow Satsuki's lead.

"He is Yori of Chiyo, one of my more subtle eyes on the students and their families. Yori, this is Nui Harime, the Grand Couturier of Revocs."

"Oooh, so he's just a no-star spook? Why is he in this room if he's just a spy hmm?" Nui says in a teasing tone, to which Satsuki responds with a sneer.

"I'm actually a Four-Star," he said as he removes his leather jacket to reveal four stars arranged on his back.

"Ooo, his uniform has forty percent life fibers?" he suddenly feels Nui's hands on his back, their unnatural coldness causes his skin to crawl, "Oho, and this jacket has them too! How is he not an insane monster?!"

"That is irrelevant, what is it you want Harime?" Satsuki said firmly, "He may have important information for me and you are keeping me from it."

"Oh, don't mind me! Please go right ahead!" Nui happily exclaimed.

He looks back to Satsuki, who nods her approval for him to speak.

He kneels ceremonially before Satsuki before speaking, "I have found the location of a meeting of spies from Osaka, I am prepared to deal with them as soon as you give the word," he looks up slightly, "unless you desire Gamagoori to handle it tomorrow?"

"That is acceptable; the Disciplinary Committee will handle the apprehension and punishment of these criminals tomorrow morning." Satsuki's eyes look away from him to Nui, "Now what is it you want?"

"Nothing."

Yori stands and turns back to the girl, her small smile making him uneasy.

"I hardly believe that." Satsuki retorted.

"What? Can't I come and visit you once and a while?" Nui pouted.

"What is it that my mother needs of me?"

"Always so serious," Nui shakes her head in a disappointed manner, "I stopped by to tell you I am on the way to kill Isshin Matoi."

"Should that name mean something to me?" Satsuki asked after a moment.

"My, you must be really terrible at your job, Yori!" Nui laughs, "He is currently creating something we do not approve of, a weapon capable of destroying life fibers."

"Then you should not have wasted my time."

Nui once again produces an insincere pout as she makes her way to the door around him and Satsuki.

"Aren't you going to escort me out Yori?"

He barely contains a growl just before Satsuki answers the girl, "I need him to follow up on some leads in a nearby town of Ox*."

"Oh goody, that's where Matoi is! We can ride together!"

Yori's heart drops, they specifically picked that town as a distraction because it was close by and inconspicuous.

"Very well," Satsuki says grudgingly after a moment, "you are to drop her off and return immediately after your mission, understood?

He bows, "Absolutely Lady Satsuki."

 **Later that night**

"Man she was annoying," Yori complained as he drops himself on the bed next to Satsuki, "she was quiet at first when I activated my uniform but then she wouldn't shut up about it…"

He stops as there is the gentle push of a finger to his lips, "Please do not speak of her, and just relax. We only have a few hours together until you have to head back among the rabble. While we may not have time to speak we can at least enjoy this."

"You're right," he sighed as he places an arm around her shoulder and runs his fingers through her long black hair, "I can't wait until the Elections, then we can give up this farce and I can just stay in the tower until we end Revocs."

Satsuki's hand moves under his night shirt and up to his scar on his chest, her slender fingers tracing the permanent memento of his loyalty to her engraved there by her own Bakuzan. He takes in a deep breath, enjoying Satsuki's scent.

Even after two years the stitches were still there, unable to be removed as the fibers bonded with his flesh. He still has his supernatural senses, and as he grew stronger with Satsuki they seem to have increased in strength, allowing him to become an apex predator compared to the average student at the Academy. Of course that didn't mean it didn't have its drawback. For some reason his uniform seemed to be weaker in the chest, as if the fibers there conflicted with any more placed above them.

He finally closes his eyes and pulls her closer. Neither say another word as they lay there enjoying each other's company until they fall asleep. The morning comes all too soon. He quickly dresses and makes his way to the no-star district to assimilate into the crowd their before they assemble on their rides back to the Academy.

 **Six months later…**

"Waaaaait!"

Yori looks over to see one Mako Mankanshoku running alongside the no-star tram.

"Let me on, let me on, please let me on, please!" she yelled desperately.

None of the no-stars budge even a little as she pleads for assistance, so he reaches out his hand to her, keeping it just back enough that she had to work for it. The younger girl dives for it, grabbing much higher up than he anticipated. In fact she launched herself enough to bump into him head first and he accidentally threw another student off as he stepped back.

"Yay, I got on! Thanks Yori." Mako said as she gave him a big smile.

He smirks back, "Don't mention it. How's tennis going?"

"Great! Too bad Captain Hakodate scheduled a practice this afternoon; I'm going to be so tired. Still maybe if I do well enough I can get a sexy uniform to go with my special pair of sexy underwear. Thanks for getting me to join!"

"That was entirely your choice," he replied unfazed by her comment, "I just figured I'd mention it. It seemed like you might be able to get into it if you focused."

When he turns back to the girl however he finds her fast asleep, causing him to groan. She was a good friend and pleasant company, but he really hoped that tennis club would help get her motivated. She had much more potential than Satsuki's system would give her credit for, and the student body severely needed more people like her. As he just experienced she is capable of much more than normal when motivated. On top of that however he knew from other experiences that she could remain unfazed in even the direst situations and had boundless energy when she was excited. If she would pursue the path of the warrior she would likely reach two-star.

Perhaps it was better this way however. Who could say how much the choices of one such as her could affect the future.

After the boring tram ride Mako immediately hurries to their homeroom teacher's class. Rather than rush along he stalks casually, taking the time to read the sign on the waist of the last traitor he tracked for Gamagoori.

 _This is a naked pig who dared to defy Honnouji Academy. Justice has been served_

He looks at the boy, and couldn't help but sigh. The hunt involved was almost too simple. The fact that he was his desk neighbor made tracking the scent easier than normal. On top of that the fool took the bait of the one-star uniform with no hint of subtlety. At least his current target was at least somewhat crafty. He arrives at his homeroom class containing his next target and moves to his seat next to the now empty desk.

Taking up a look of listlessness he stares into the back of his homeroom teacher. He, Satsuki, and the others all knew that this man, Aikuro Mikisugi, was a member of Nudist Beach. He, unlike most of the other spies, was simply watching however. As this was the case he saw no reason to harm the man, and luckily for Mikisugi Satsuki agreed. However because of his true identity Satsuki asked him to watch the man. While it was becoming boring listening to the droning of the man's likely false bored teacher façade, he found himself agreeing.

The door to the classroom swings open suddenly causing him to perk up instinctively. Before he can see the person in question he catches the scent of lemon he faintly remembers to have smelled before. He is quickly reminded as the girl who was with Mako's little brother this morning walks in and stands at the front of the class.

She isn't wearing a standard Honnouji Academy school uniform which is odd. Instead she is in a simple t-shirt with a red ribbon tie and a black mini skirt. Over that she is wearing a black and white jacket with her black shoulder length hair just barely touching the collar. On her back she has a guitar case and adding to the rebel vibe of her stance and décor was a single left-swept red highlight on her bangs.

Without looking away from the chalkboard Aikuro begins introducing the girl, "We have a new student in class K today, so please welcome Ryuko Matoi."

He now finds himself interested. He remembers the name Matoi, the man Harime was sent to hunt was likely related to her in some way. He can tell she is on a mission simply by the determined look in her eyes similar to Satsuki's. Was she here for revenge, or just answers?

This look fades quickly as Mako begins enthusiastically calling to Ryuko, "Ryuko, Ryuko, here, sit here! This desk is free!"

His attention is drawn back to the front as Aikuro has turned away from the board and moved next to Ryuko.

"Man." She mumbled probably only loud enough for Aikuro to hear without enhanced hearing.

"What?" the man asked.

"That chick's spazzing out something fierce."

"Oh, that's just how Mankanshoku usually is. I guess that'll be your seat. Enjoy."

She makes her way to the seat between them and he can't help but watch as she draws closer. Something about her seemed familiar, like a sixth sense was telling him he knew her more than he knew her. It's not the exact same as when he saw Satsuki for the first time, but perhaps it was close enough. As she sits and slouches into the seat, he begins thinking of how to get her to fight with the Academy.

"My name is Mako Mankanshoku. It's nice to meet you again and everything." the girl said cheerfully.

"That kid the student council purged," Ryuko points her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the main gate, "he the one out front?"

"Uh-huh, I don't remember what happened really so my friend Yori will probably know more." The peppy girl said as she pointed to him but soon begins waving her hand in front of her face, "That kind of thing happens a lot around here though, so you'll get used to it." Mako reassured.

Ryuko looks away uninterested in the details as Mako pulls a lunchbox and a book out of her desk. She uses the book as a guard for her lunchbox as she quickly shovels the food into her mouth and promptly falls asleep.

Ryuko happens to look back to the girl only to get a look of shock on her face, "She's asleep already?!"

"Oh, Ryukoooo!"

Ryuko looks to her right just in time to dodge the odd girl as she came flying at her. The girl rolls comically into a nearby trashcan, the impact somehow managing to dislodge a shoe and send both the girl and can flying.

Walking up from the same direction the weird girl came from was her other desk neighbor. His uniform is the same as all the other students in their class, a little ragged and of an obviously lower quality than some of the other students in the yard they are in. This added with his fringe-cut blood-red hair and relaxed walk give him a slight slacker vibe.

Overpowering that, however, is some sort of primal feeling of superiority coming from his deep-blue eyed gaze. He strikes her as something like a lion lazily wandering around its habitat, a predator that could turn dangerous if stirred. She knew he had to know something, even if it was just who was in charge here.

"Good dodge. You have decent reflexes." He said has he looks around her, "You ok, Mako?"

She begins to question, but she quickly finds Mako beside her, "No I'm not Yori. Why'd you dodge me like that, Ryuko?" the girl pouted, interrupting her.

"Most people choose to move when people dive at them." Yori said as he begins to stalk across the yard. She follows him, and is in turn followed by Mako.

"Aww. I was just trying to give my new bestie a hug."

"Your new bestie?" she finds herself asking.

"Yeah, we're desk neighbors so we're totally besties!" Mako exclaims happily as she blocks her path, "Oh, that reminds me, is that your guitar case? Can you play? Come on, play something. I'll sing!"

The weird girl begins balancing on her bag. She takes the half eaten banana that had been on her head and holds it in front of her mouth, using it as a mic as she begins to sing way off key.

"God, would you calm down?" She looks to Yori, who had stopped his advance and was watching Mako with an amused expression, "Listen, I need you to answer some questions. Like, who's the top-dog of this place?"

"Oh, I can tell you that, it's…" all of a sudden Mako gets a surprised look in her eye and has pulled her next to Yori. "Whoa, look out you guys! Bow, bow!" she said as she forced her to bow with her.

She looks around to find all the students bowing in two rows that form a path to the main building. Next to her Yori is crouching rather than bowing, and decides to do the same.

"What's going on?" she asked, to which the man responds by pointing down the path. In the distance she can see a tall, dark-skinned blonde with spiked gauntlets walking towards them.

"Is he a big-shot here or something?" she asked.

"I guess a path of bowing students isn't indicative enough." Yori replies with a quick laugh, "Yeah, he's a three-star."

As the giant of a man walks past she sees three interconnected black stars on his chest as well as three on his collar. "Three-star?"

"Yup." Mako said from her position next to her, the girl holding a bow rather than crouching like her and Yori. "That's Ira Gamagoori, the Disciplinary Committee Chairman."

"He's part of the Elite Four of the Student Council, and outranks the no-stars by three ranks" Yori added.

"No-star, what makes the stars so special?" She asked.

"The uniforms here have amazing powers!" Mako answered, "I hear it's awesome when you get one. You get all superhuman and stuff! They're called Goku Uniforms and they go from one-star all the way up to three-star. The Student Council President, Satsuki Kiryuin, hands out uniforms based on a student's abilities."

"In other words you should pick your battles when it comes to uniforms." Yori added.

"So what you're sayin is the Student Council President is the top-dog." She said, mostly ignoring Yori's comment.

Suddenly a bright light shines from down the path. Mako turns her head away, "Yeah, and speak of the devil, that's Lady Satsuki!"

She looks around Mako at the young woman in the distance. Her long, hip length hair flows behind her as she takes the steps down to their level. Her white blue outfit is accented by some sort of gold adornment, but lacks any sign of the infamous stars that the pair at her sides mentioned determined the pecking order. In her right hand she holds a sheathed sword but otherwise seems unremarkable. This was the perfect chance for her to get answers.

Yori watches as Ryuko abruptly stands in Satsuki's path. Everyone looks at her in surprise, but he smirks. It's been a long time since anyone wasn't immediately intimidated by Satsuki.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I hear you're the queen bee at this school." Ryuko began, "If you are, I got a question for ya."

"How dare you!" One of the one-stars in front of Ryuko said.

"Get her!" yelled another as the two and five others dive at the girl.

Quickly pulling the guitar case from her back she, surprisingly, swats the one-stars with ease only having to swing it twice. He finds himself impressed, while compared to a three-star a one-star was nothing, that didn't discount that even a one-star is far stronger than the average human. This Matoi girl held more promise than any of the others he's seen pass through the Academy since its opening.

Ryuko then opens her guitar case, but instead of pulling out the instrument that belonged in the case she retrieves something red. She spins it around her wrist multiple times before she stops, and as she points it at Satsuki it is revealed to be a large red blade shaped like half a scissor.

"That's the hugest scissor blade ever!" Mako exclaimed.

"Yup. It's one half of a giant pair of scissors, and I've been lookin all over the place for the person who's got the other half. Hey, pres, you okay?" Ryuko began as her voice began to rise, "You look surprised to see this thing, like you've seen it before. You have seen it before haven't you?!"

Satsuki looks down at her, her head slightly raised in a look of superiority over the rebel, "And what if I have?" she replied calmly.

Ryuko gasps, "You have seen it. You've got the other half of my scissors!"

Ryuko rushes forward and roars as she launches herself through the air towards Satsuki. He sighs as he sees a familiar face launch from the crowd before she can even make it half way and the girl makes no sign of acknowledging the incoming attack.

"Tek!" the boy shouts one of his large life fiber boxing gloves contacts the girls face.

"Ken!" Another hit lands in center mass as the girl is forced to almost sprawl across the front of the second glove.

"Fun! Sai!" The last strike in his four hit combo sends the girl flying into a crowd of one-stars. The force causes her to crash through the crowd sending the unlucky one-stars flying.

"Fukuroda?" Satsuki asked.

"Yes, captain of the boxing club, Takaharu Fukuroda. I'll finish this insolent wench off, with your permission."

"Move it!" he hears Ryuko yell as she forces her way through the crowd, the furious look of a crazed animal in her eye. She impresses him yet again as she is able to swing her blade in full force at Fukuroda regardless of how hard Fukuroda had just hit her. The short boxer smirks as he effortlessly moves his large glove into a block and stops the scissor. The hit causes the sound of clanging metal to echo throughout the yard.

"Is that glove made out of iron or something?"

"Ha! Don't you know a Goku uniform when you see one?" Fukuroda asks mockingly. 

"You're not even wearing a uniform."

"What are you talking about? A boxer's uniform mean gloves and trunks and…other stuff! Plus Lady Satsuki gave me this Athleticism-Augmenting two-star Goku uniform! It gives my gloves their power and makes them harder than hard, stronger than steel!"

"I don't get what you're sayin, but if they're that hard I can stop pullin my punches!"

He groans, she just hit one of Fukuroda's nerves. To imply that someone thought he couldn't handle anything other than their 100% ticked him off more than anything.

"You think I can't handle it!"

He begins to yell out that he is preforming a left hook, but rather than do it with his main glove forms a chain of smaller gloves and launches forward. They collide with a surprised Ryuko, riddling the girl with hits.

"And here's a right uppercut to finish you off!" Fukuroda yelled as he moved in and used his main glove to deliver the blow.

Ryuko flies into the air and once she hits the ground and is within view he can see her bruised and bloodied face as well as scratches on her arms and legs. He can hear her unsteady and pained groans as the rain begins to fall.

"I was hoping you'd prove to be more amusing," he heard Satsuki say coolly, "but you have no idea how to properly wield your weapon."

His love turns away from the scene but stops walking away as Ryuko began to rise once again.

"Hold it," Ryuko began her voice still holding a bit of fire, "you better tell me what you know or else!"

"Shut your mouth!" Fukuroda shouts as he uses his gloves to hold himself up as he kicks Ryuko's face with both feet, "Nobody speaks to Lady Satsuki that way…No one!"

"Confiscate her scissor blade." Satsuki ordered without turning back but Fukuroda can barely respond before Ryuko is back on her feet.

Her stance is slouched, but it is firm enough for her to hold the blade behind her, "No way! You'll never take this away from me! Never!" she roars.

Ryuko had more than earned his respect. Anyone else in her situation wouldn't have made it past the one-stars, yet here she was able to stand after an assault by a two star. If she was given the time she would likely surpass everyone to be on par with he and Satsuki.

Ryuko suddenly lifts the blade and attacks Fukuroda, but in her tired state the boy is easily able to dodge the attacks as he laughs manically.

With her fire she would be a big help come the battle with Ragyo. The only problem now was making sure the girls stubborn will didn't get her killed. He looks around finding a small pebble on the surface of the mud below him. He scoops it up and quickly tosses it. The small pebble likely moved too fast for anyone to notice, and the impact is enough to throw Fukuroda off balance and make him fall. Now whether she would take the opening and retreat was Ryuko's choice. Thankfully she does as she quickly makes for the main gate.

"Huh? Ryuko, are you going home?!" Mako yells from next to him.

Ryuko doesn't answer as she tackles a delivery man off of his scooter, driving off. She returns only for a moment to give the man back his deliveries before she drives away once more, just barely escaping a pursuing Fukuroda.

Now the girl had two choices, flee or step forth.

 **Later that day…**

The siren signaling the end of classes blows and Yori takes his leave of his least favorite class, math. Today was interesting, but oddly enough Ryuko hadn't reappeared at all. She'd proven she wasn't one to give in easily, but he was curious what was taking her so long.

He shrugs, and pulls out his no-star phone. Flipping open the cheap, outdated device he searches Inumuta's number, finding it under the name Data Hound, and begins texting the IT wizard. He asks about Satsuki, curious as to how she was handling the sudden appearance of the Matoi girl. He looks down the hall as he waits for a response to see Mako waving ahead of him. He hears her yammering about something, but before she can get any closer she is grabbed by a one-star in a boxer uniform.

The girl yelps in surprise, and he instinctively moves forward to free his friend when he feels the phone vibrate with a response. He strikes the one-star at the same time he is looking at the message.

 _Lady Satsuki desires that you just surrender and she will handle it._ It reads.

Mako barely has time to thank him when he suddenly catches the scent of sweat and weight room metal. He is able to turn just in time to block a strike from Fukuroda, the blow shattering his phone.

"Tek! Ken! Fun! Sai!"

The four strikes force him down the hall and leave his unguarded hands stinging slightly. He looks up to see that other members of the boxing club have already made off with Mako.

"I see you haven't lost your edge old friend." Fukuroda said.

"You know me, I always keep myself sharp."

Fukuroda frowns, "Was that what that was with the pebble? Keeping sharp?"

He sighs; Satsuki was rubbing off on him. He shouldn't have underestimated Fukuroda in the first place; of course the boy would see the pebble in his two-star uniform. He shakes his head, "That was because I see potential in Matoi, and I'm curious as to how far she'll make it."

"She insulted Lady Satsuki, as well as me; you are a fool to have aided her after such a display. Now she is nowhere to be found."

"It's her choice to make, but I'm almost certain she'll be back."

"I can't take that chance. If I fail to get that blade my uniform will be confiscated."

He wanted to remind the boy the uniform wasn't what made him strong. He wanted to remind him of the no-star that desired to prove to everyone he wasn't one to hold back against just because he was shorter and thinner. But he keeps it back. This was his fight, one that couldn't be done with fists. He had to realize on his own that the cloths didn't make the man so that he could grow stronger.

"To that end I must take you and Mankanshoku hostage. Between your assistance, and the fact you were the only two to speak with her, you're the only ones I can use as bait. Please surrender; if Matoi does arrive I want to be at full energy when I pound her into the ground again."

He had to let Satsuki handle it. If he beat Fukuroda and Ryuko arrived then the girl would miss out on valuable experience, and if he just fought her too it would bring up suspicions in front of any possible spies in the crowd.

No, he had to hold off until the Elections so that he could be rid of the loose ends before he was openly by her side once again.

He raises his hands in surrender and Fukuroda grabs nearly his whole body with his right glove. He can't see, but feels himself moving rapidly and hears the doors out the Academy open. He catches the scent of bamboo just before he is suddenly tossed onto a sort of cross shaped device that clamps around his wrists and ankles. Standing next to Fukuroda is the Athletic Committee chairman Uzu Sanageyama.

"So this is the guy you mentioned," Uzu said as he looked him over, "he doesn't look too special."

"I could say the same of you," he laughs, "I bet my girlfriend could wreck you with one hand tied behind her back."

He laughs heartily as Uzu sneers, the comment stinging the swordsman's pride as he likely pictures some frail no-star school girl instead of the lioness that was his true love.

"I almost hope that the Matoi girl doesn't show, maybe Lady Satsuki will let me teach you a lesson as a substitute match."

"One can only hope she would be so generous." He taunts.

Aikuro finds it hard to maintain his aloof teacher façade as Fukuroda's speech reaches its end. He can no longer contain himself as he watches members of the boxing club bring a large vat of boiling oil and stop in front of the pair of students on the crosses.

"Principal Kizuna, the Student Council are animals. Do something." He said as he looked over to Principal Mariko to his right.

After a moment the middle aged woman responded, "This is a matter amongst the students. How Lady Satsuki chooses to handle it is her decision; that is her right as Student Council President."

He can see that the woman seems a little distracted, which was almost out of character for her. She seemed focused on the boy among the pair of students suspended on the crosses. He recognizes the boy as Yori, an orphan from the principal's home town of Chiyo and a repeat student in his homeroom class. Perhaps she knew him from her time before the Academy.

Regardless, unexpectedly her loyalty to the Kiryuins was absolute. He shouldn't have bothered, all he could do was hope that the Kamui Professor Matoi made didn't kill his daughter and she was able to stop this madness.

After a moment there is a commotion as among the crowd around the boxing ring set up in the yard for this occasion. A figure in a ragged old cloak pushes itself off of various faces as it crowd walks to the ring. In its hand is the scissor blade.

Yori smells blood and lemon from the approaching figure in the cloak, and once it launches to them he can make out Ryuko's face as she jumps onto Mako's cross, where the poor girl is suspended upside down. She pulls her blade from Mako's trap and slashes his as she mumbles for Mako to hold on.

Using his free hand he releases his other bindings in time to charge the incoming boxing club one-stars. As he propels off the cross like a missile as he spears the assailants, the force enough to knock even the largest boy unconscious as they fly into the crowd. He'd rather not smell fried human flesh, and the boys would learn nothing from being cooked alive. He turns from his new position just off the edge of the ring to see Ryuko sitting Mako down gently.

"So, new girl, we meet again." Fukuroda stated.

"Using hostages to get me here is pretty low. If you wanna fight so bad, here I am. Let's duke it out, one-on-one."

"You're not in the club, but I can make an exception today." Fukuroda mocks before he roared, "Get ready!"

Mako slides off the stage and moves toward him, "Wow, we almost got exposed in front of everyone! We sure are lucky Ryuko showed up when she did huh?" she asked

"Yeah, and she chose to fight Fukuroda again as well. Let's hope she learned from her last encounter."

The bell for the round rings and Fukuroda quickly makes the first move. He rears back his left hand and throws it forward, the poor bikini clad card girl sent flying by the strike.

"I'm gonna haze you like a freshman!"

A bright star shaped flash from the front of his glove launches a barrage of smaller ones that strike Ryuko head on. Ryuko doesn't budge an inch as the gloves ricochet off her then the chain ropes, then the girl again before they begin to quickly pool and overflow out of the ring. "Yeah, you like that?! The rings filling up with my juggernaut of left jabs!"

The assault stops momentarily as Fukuroda pulls back his right fist, "And here comes a right straight…Psych," his fist begins to spin like a drill, "it's really a corkscrew! Tek! Ken! Fun! Sai!"

The drill hits, and Ryuko's cloak is quickly ripped to shreds by the strike. Ryuko is unharmed, as she blocked the strike with her scissor blade. Even he is shocked however as the girl is left standing in front of the crowd in what is likely the most revealing outfit he has ever seen. The crowd is silent for a moment as they look at her.

Her hair has more red in it than before, is more feathery, and has some little horn like clips in it. She is in a pair of black and red thigh-high high-heeled boots and her skirt is little less than a glorified bikini, just barely covering her from full exposure to the crowd. Her top is a sort of black armor with a red stripe that covers only part of her upper breast as well as her arms, shoulders, and neck. Connecting each piece to the piece above it are thin red suspenders pulled tightly across her form. The part he finds most curious on the outfit is the wing like motif just above her chest, where he sees a single eye looking piece that seems almost…aware.

Ryuko is blushing furiously, likely of embarrassment, but he can't see any injuries on her. So why did he smell her blood?

Finally the crowd reacts with all of the whooping of males drowning out any other cries in the courtyard.

"W-w-w-what the hell are you wearing!" Fukuroda exclaimed, his bulging eyes unable to tear away from Ryuko's mostly exposed chest as an inordinate amount of sweat drips from his brow.

"None of your business!" Ryuko shouts.

"You're cheating!" Fukuroda swallows hard, "All trying to distract me with your sexiness."

"It's not my fault it's like this!"

"Come on you guys! Get over it and fight!" He yelled impatiently. The day was getting late and he was eager to get back to Satsuki, and today was full of interesting developments he needed to discuss with her. However he wanted to see this fight first, just to see what this new outfit of the girl's was capable of.

Both shoot him a glare of annoyance, but Fukuroda jump back and snaps a chain on his belt that was on his right glove. Suddenly the main glove seems to fall off leaving behind a large square block with a jagged front.

"Fine, time to take off the soft gloves I use for away bouts and bring the pain!" Fukuroda shouted.

"What?!" Ryuko screamed back.

"Behold, this is what the Honnouji Academy Boxing Club Athleticism-Augmenting two-star gloves look like!" Fukuroda ranted before letting out a whooping laugh. He yanks the chain and suddenly the entire glove is covered in vicious spikes.

The bell for round two rings and Fukuroda charges forward, his glove already spinning just as he did before, "I couldn't tell what you were hiding under that cloak, but now that you're half naked I'm gonna rip that bikini to shreds and send you flying!" he roared

Ryuko once again doesn't budge as the glove makes contact, and suddenly a cracking noise is heard. He sees the young men around him stare with their mouths agape and some tongues wagging, but he simply shakes his head.

Fukuroda had lost, and he could only hope the man would learn from this defeat.

Suddenly Fukuroda's glove shatters, pieces of it falling to the ground.

"W-what the hell?!" the boxer questioned shakily.

"Looks like your gloves not the only thing that turns to steel, so does my outfit!"

Fukuroda shouts wildly as he strikes futilely over and over.

"Geez, you call those punches?! Cuz, I aint feeling anything!" Ryuko roared.

He takes this moment of inaction to examine the outfit, but finds no stars on it. Just what is it that she is wearing.

"Huh? Whoa, I didn't think Ryuko knew how to box!" Mako said suddenly, causing him to chuckle.

"I'm pretty sure she's not boxing, Mako. But I will admit it is impressive."

"Okay, now I get to have some fun!" Ryuko shouts after a moment.

Her suspenders begin to tighten as her outfit releases steam and all the red in it begins to glow a bright pink momentarily. Fukuroda jumps back in surprise and launches another barrage of left jabs that Ryuko effortlessly dances past.

"Left jab!" she shouted as she strikes his head with the handle of her blade.

She is quickly behind him as she spins the blade on her wrist before catching it and stabbing back with the flat end, "And a right hook!"

Fukuroda is stunned by the blows as she moves in front of him again and swings her fist up, using the blades handle as a sort of knuckle guard, "And now an uppercut!"

Fukuroda flies for a moment before he hits the ground head first, bouncing and revealing he is unconscious and that his teeth had been knocked out. "And for desert, a right straight!"

Ryuko dashes under the rising boxer with an overhead slash that shatters his Goku Uniform. He catches the glimmer of a life fiber float through the air as it travels in front of the now hunched girl and her outfit glows once more.

He can't help but smirk as Sanageyama yelped, "Impossible!"

"Now it's time to finish you off!" Ryuko boomed as she catches mostly naked boxer with the flat of her blade and spins him around, launching the unconscious man up toward Satsuki at her perch on the tower.

The boy's body is stopped by a wall of one-stars, but the impact causes Fukuroda to cough a bit of blood. The blood continues on, and though Nonon and Ira try and stop it from hitting Satsuki. He barely contains a scoff as everyone gasps. It wasn't as if Fukuroda's was the first blood to ever touch her.

"How dare you?!" Uzu shouted as he begins to climb into the ring, but before he can chide the "monkey" as Nonon called him Satsuki spoke.

"Stand down." She said, her calm voice somehow audible even from her location far above the crowd, "New girl, where did you get your hands on that outfit?"

Ryuko uses her heel to kick the dented mic Fukuroda used earlier into her hand, "I got it from my father."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really, and you see this scissor blade?! It was left behind by the same scumbag that killed him!"

Odd, Nui had no such weapon when he hauled her there, and it seems unlikely that she would have left something like that outfit behind.

"And now you're going to tell me who this belongs to, Satsuki Kiryuin."

 _ **A/N: I hope this was a good read so far. Please review and tell me what you think of it, and if I can I'll get back to you. Also for the star next to Ox, the Wiki didn't specify where Ryuko grew up, so I put it there because I just decided to use Ryuko's elementary school name as the town name as well. Just in case it needs to be put as well I don't own anything related to Kill la Kill beyond the OC's in it as well as Chiyo city itself.**_

 _ **P.S. A/N: In my excitement to get this put up I forgot to thank both CrimsonHeresy and Girth Johnson for being such huge helps for this up to this point! I highly recommend you read their stories.**_


	7. Chapter 7

Ryuko feels sweat leaking from all over, and even now she could feel the stares of everyone in the crowd. She couldn't stand being in front of everyone in this kinky outfit, but she needed to get her answers from the bitch on the tower.

"Your name is Ryuko Matoi, correct? Interesting. Then you must be Isshin Matoi's daughter." Satsuki said.

"I knew it. You know who my father was!" She yelled, but an intense pain forces her to kneel.

"You're bleeding too much, Ryuko." The voice she recognizes as her outfit said.

"You said you wanted blood." She grumbled back, "You getting full now?"

"No, but in about five minutes you're going to lose consciousness."

Damn it! She knew that he was powered by her blood, that's why she named him Senketsu which means fresh blood. He could have told her how much he was using though, she couldn't pass out here! "Why didn't you say that before?!"

She looks back up to Satsuki. She hated having to run like this, but she had no other choice, "We'll pick this up later Satsuki Kiryuin, count on it!"

With her last words the Matoi girl leaps from the ring and quickly makes for the main gate. As she passes by Yori she hears Sanageyama order, "They're getting away, after them!"

Before she can even lift Bakuzan some of the foolish pigs dive at Yori. Scooping up the girl who was chained to the cross next to his he jumps back, and as he does she sees him look to her. She brings her blade down, the bottom of the sheath clicking on the metal roofing and echoing loudly. All of the pursuers turn to her, the one-stars bowing and Sanageyama shielding his eyes from the light coming from behind her.

"Don't bother." She ordered as she waved her hand forward. Yori takes this as his sign to leave as she hoped he would, the other girl following behind him as she continued, "They will be back eventually, leave them be until then."

Yori sighed as he relaxed in his seat on the tram. He sure hoped that the outfit that Ryuko was wearing was interesting enough to keep Satsuki from making him sleep on the couch for what his choice caused.

He looked over to Ryuko a second time, this time the girl seemed too tired to call him a pervert like she did when the ride started. Her breathing was extremely shallow, as if she was bleeding out. He looked to the eye of her outfit, which was still looking up at its wearer. Occasionally Ryuko would mumble to it like she did in the arena and when they were on their way down, but now she said nothing as she barely holds herself upright.

Looking over to Mako he finds her asleep like always, but as the tram halts at the next stop and Ryuko falls over she shoots up and looks around.

Once she sees Ryuko on the ground she rushes to her friend. "Oh my gosh, Ryuko are you alright?!"

Ryuko doesn't respond as he moves to them. The girl still smelled like fresh blood and showed signs of anemia even though she didn't have a mark on her, "I think she needs a doctor, but I don't know of any nearby."

"You know my dad's a doctor! He's the best back-alley doctor in the slums!"

"I honestly don't think your dad is the best choice," he scoops up Ryuko, the girl stirring only for a moment as he does so, "but I don't think we have a choice. Let's get her there then. Lead the way."

"You got it!" Mako stated with a salute.

Sure he wanted to get back to Satsuki, but he couldn't choose to let Ryuko die of blood loss or some other cruel fate that the slums could provide at night. If he did he'd be losing both a potential ally and a perfect surrogate for him to challenge the students. Mr. Barazo was unlikely to kill her with her having no real injuries, and knowing the family from his one other interaction with them they'd give the girl food and somewhere safe to sleep.

After a bit of walking they are approached by a small gang of kids, among them is Mako's brother, "Sis, you're ok! Thank god!" Mataro Mankanshoku said with an elated sob.

"Yep, my new bestie Ryuko saved my life."

When Mako points out Ryuko the group of young boys immediately begins to drool over her mostly exposed form. "Whoa it's a half-naked chick!"

"What're you doing out this late anyway Mataro? Don't you know mom's gonna be mad if you're late for dinner again?!" Mako yelled.

"I was headed to save your stupid ass." Mataro pouted.

"That's pretty brave for a passive aggressive gang." He laughed.

"Screw you Yori, don't you have an imaginary girlfriend to get back to?"

"Ouch, that would sting if she was actually less than dreamlike. Besides, like I could trust you and your buddies to carry this poor girl without fondling her."

Just then there is a flash of light from his arms and Ryuko's outfit changes. Instead of the revealing outfit from before she is in a navy blue sailor uniform. Her shirt is a crop top with mid length sleeves, and her collar is tied by a multicolored scarf that holds the mysterious eye of the outfit as it slowly closes. Connecting the upper half of the uniform to the skirt below is a set of suspenders that stretch across her midriff.

"Well I got no reason to hang around." The boy with the red cap in Mataro's gang said after a moment, "I'll see you tomorrow Mataro."

"Thanks for proving my point!" he yelled after the boys as they ran to their separate homes.

It isn't long after that that they arrive at the Mankanshoku Back-Alley Clinic. Once they reach the door he gently balances Ryuko on her feet and props her on Mako.

"Where you going Yori? Don't you wanna come in and have dinner?" Mako yelled to him.

"Maybe later, I want to talk to my girl about today. See you two tomorrow!"

He moves through the alleys quickly heading to his "house" while there is still a bit of daylight left. On his way however he bumps into a short figure just before the street to his place. As he pulls back he sees it is Takaharu Fukuroda.

The young man is without his boxing uniform, revealing his clipped ear and buzz cut. He is only wearing a simple pair of gym shorts, revealing his muscular upper body. On his arm he is carrying a gym bag, which likely holds his most precious belongings from his old two-star manor, as well as his new no-star uniform. Once the ex-boxer sees him he gives a curt nod which he returns.

"I didn't think that throw would keep you down long." He said to the man.

After a moment the boxer grins, showing off some of his missing teeth, "Don't try and butter me up, I'm lucky that chick didn't kill me!"

He smirks back, "I tried to tell you man, I could tell she was tough the moment she arrived. That outfit was a surprise though."

He moves to walk down to his storage hut and Takaharu follows, "Your instincts are always dead on too. My stupid obsession with my uniform ended up costing me it in the end."

"Oh? Learn something did you?"

"That fight showed me I grew too attached to the power granted by Goku uniforms. If I was stronger I might have been able to take that girl. As it was it just came down to numbers, and her outfit obviously outranks a two-star."

"I noticed that too, not a star on it."

"I don't know how you do it, man. I couldn't tell you what was on that outfit for looking where it wasn't."

He shrugs, "I find my girlfriend more attractive, makes it easier to ignore other girls."

"Speaking of which, you really pissed Sanageyama off with that comment. You know as soon as Lady Satsuki decides Matoi is a threat the Elite Four are gonna take her down hard. When that happens you can bet if you're still around her he's going to kill you."

"Wow, is he really that sensitive?"

"No, but I know you can't leave well enough alone. Even after the way she's spoken to Lady Satsuki you'll keep showing her ways to get stronger simply because you've "chosen" too. That makes me frustrated with you, the only reason I don't get mad is because I know you. It makes Sanageyama want to obliterate your ass. You pushing his buttons just makes it worse."

"Like you said though, I've chosen to do this. I never go back on my choices."

"Just letting you know what you're getting into."

He was glad that his choice didn't seem to affect his friendship with the boxer. He knew he couldn't expect the same treatment from the prospective and current two-stars he knew, but he'd be pleased if they chose otherwise as well.

"Hey, do you have somewhere to stay tonight?" he asked.

Takaharu looks around, then shrugs, "No, not really."

"Well," he points to the larger than average shanty hut that was his "house" that usually served as temporary storage for his jacket. "You can stay here; I usually just stay with my girl at night so I don't mind."

"I won't look a gift horse in the mouth, better than sleeping outside."

They both enter. The first room is split in two sections. The left has a modest television with an older generation videogame console connected to it, and the corner of it is littered with different weight equipment. To the right is a dusty and unused kitchen. They walk between these and into a small hall. He directs Takaharu to the first room on the left while he moves into the second on the right. He heads in and quickly obtains his jacket.

"Go ahead and make yourself at home," He said loudly as he made his way back out the door, "I'll see you tomorrow Takaharu."

 **That night…**

Satsuki watches as a familiar winged figure suddenly flies in front of the window. She waits only a few moments before she stands and moves to the bed, straightening her night gown as she does. She watches the door, finding Yori expectedly opening it, his leather jacket thrown over his shoulder as he saunters into the room. She can tell he has questions, but over that she sees he is glad to see her.

She is glad for his arrival as well, if slightly irritated. She stands and meets him halfway. "I assume you had a good reason for helping the Matoi girl this morning."

"Nothing you haven't already figured out yourself." He said as he pulled his uniform off and tossed it aside, leaving him in a simple red tank top, "You know as well as I that that girl is going to be helpful against Ragyo."

"So you knew about the Kamui?"

A blank expression appears on his face, "Kamui? Is that what her outfit is called?"

"As you already know Goku uniforms are only consisted of a certain percentage of Life Fibers."

"Yes, the average person can't handle more than thirty percent, and to wear more risks madness, not to mention the strain it puts on your body. How many does a Kamui have?"

"A Kamui has 100% life fibers."

He is obviously surprised for a moment, "No wonder she passed out after the match with Takaharu…"

"That is because she isn't wearing it properly, this likely caused the Kamui to drain her of blood." She said bitterly.

He gently touches her shoulder, "Is there something wrong?"

"The very idea that someone so beneath me was first sickens me. I can at least take solace that she will likely fail should she try again, especially since she could not stay standing after one match."

"I see it differently. When she recovers she will be stronger. Give me enough time with her and she'll make a perfect challenge for the students."

"Are you so sure she is worth the investment?"

"Yes."

She pulls him to the bed, "Then I trust your judgment, my love. I look forward to seeing if Matoi is as capable as you believe."

Just before the edge of the bed she grips his collar and pulls him close, "If she fails her next fight, however, you will have to be punished. You will sleep on the couch for one week."

He swallowed hard causing her to chuckle.

"You have yourself a deal."

 **The next morning…**

Yori yawns. He could barely sleep last night, he had to think of the best way to try and help Ryuko succeed. He had simply decided to have her trained, but now he was too tired to do it properly today. Even if the girl did choose to accept the offer he wouldn't be able to help her as much as he'd need to. Hopefully she and Mako could avoid trouble until tomorrow.

Speaking of the girls, he looks to his right, curious as to where they were. Class hadn't quite started, with students huddled in groups and chatting rather than in their seats because Mikisugi hadn't arrived yet, but he should have at least caught their scents some time on the way here. Suddenly bursting through the door he sees Mako, but even as the hyperactive girl lets out an exaggerated sigh Ryuko doesn't appear behind her.

"I made it, good morning Yori!" Mako said happily.

"Good morning Mako, I guess Ryuko is still recovering?"

"Oh no she's fine. She decided to stay back and talk to Miss Hakodate. See because I missed practice yesterday she had the club members pelt me in the face with tennis balls, man those hurt…"

"Dang, my bad Mako," he interrupted, "I forgot all about your tennis practice after the match yesterday. Oh well, I guess Ryuko will be fine since Hakodate is still a one-star…"

"Oh you don't know? Lady Satsuki promoted her to two-star. She has this giant red racket and has tennis balls under her skirt and stuff."

Before he can respond he can smell lavender, and then there is the crack of a whip, "Everyone is to be seated immediately so that class can begin!"

In the front of the class stands Mariko Kizuna. She has her brown hair tied into a bun that is held in place by some jeweled hairsticks. Her blue eyes cast a stern glare reminiscent of Satsuki's that serves to make all the students sit quickly. She is wearing a blue-grey business skirt that hugs her curves, complimenting them well. As she turns to the board a trio of black stars is shown on her back. Completing her look is a pair of simple black heels.

"Mr. Mikisugi will be absent today, so it is my duty as principal to take his place." Mariko said sternly.

The past five years have certainly hardened the woman he would consider like his older sister. Where the Elite Four were in charge of handling the students, Mariko had to handle both students and adults. That meant she had to deal with childish disputes amongst students of various ages that didn't constitute Disciplinary Committee involvement, cover for a teacher that couldn't make it to class, act as the executioner of any that were really spies that Satsuki deemed needed removal, and various other duties.

All this without the aid of life fibers; sure she had the stars on her cloths, and she was likely somewhere between a two-star and a three in strength, but because she was thirty her resistance to life fibers was atrocious. Even trying her hardest she could barely maintain control over a one-star uniform. In the end it was decided she should forgo life fiber use but Satsuki still demanded that she maintain control over the staff.

As Mariko begins to take role for the class he grows suspicious, where was Ryuko? On top of that where was Mikisugi? The pair missing at the same time couldn't be a coincidence.

He begins to raise his hand, but quickly withdraws it as Mariko snaps her whip towards it. "All questions will be held until the lesson actually begins. There will be no excuses from class either. It is my duty to see that you are educated, and it is your duty to learn!"

He yawns; he didn't have the energy to think of anything else beyond making it through this class and hunting for Ryuko later.

Ryuko rushes forward into the yard towards her new friends. Mako was tied up and that tennis bitch had her flunkies trying to pelt her with their tennis balls again, but Yori was trying to keep them off. Something seemed wrong with the man though, like he was tired or something. He would miss some of the balls as he tried to block them and if they didn't hit Mako they'd hit him square in their faces. Of course for every one that would hit Yori its server would receive a return ball that would lay her flat.

"You won't last much longer, Red!" The jerky swordsman shouted from his place next to the tennis chick.

"Hey, I can't help it my girl kept me up last night! That's probably more than your pansy self can say!" Yori chuckled.

She can feel herself heat up immensely, she's not even this guy's girlfriend and she's embarrassed. She almost feels sorry for the girl dating this man with no shame. As she looks to Hakodate she can tell she isn't the only one feeling uncomfortable. Why were the guys here such perverts?

"Any floozy willing to screw your ugly ass has to do something to get off."

"We didn't do anything like that because she's got class, but look who's talking. I see you have a big sword, you compensating for something?"

Sword boy stammers for a comeback, but roars angrily after finding none. Yori nearly stops blocking completely as he begins to laugh with gusto, but she has charged through the one-stars blocking her path in time to guard Mako and Yori with her guitar case.

"That's enough of that!" she stated.

"Oh, Ryuko!" Mako said happily.

"Glad to see you made it, where've you been?" Yori said with a smirk.

"I'd assume she was going for a little dip after I beat her down this morning." Hakodate said in a snarky tone as she whips her long blonde pigtails.

"I wasn't even ready, but now that I have this," she brings up her left fist showing off the Seki Tekko that pervy teacher gave her, "I'm going to put you all on your asses! Let's do it, Senketsu!"

She yanks the pin on the red glove and Senketsu explodes around her. Before he can even cover her again she is overcome with embarrassment from what she knows is on her next. She is left standing in front of everyone is the hooker outfit she hated.

"Oh, that looked painful and embarrassing you masochistic stripper." Hakodate said with sarcasm once again.

"Bite me! I am not a stripper you snaggle toothed bitch!"

Hakodate sneered as she pulled a tennis ball from her skirt, the other club members apparently taking this as a sign to line up behind their captain. "One-hundred and ten million serve!"

The wave of tennis balls fly at her and her friends, but she's ready for them this time. Throwing her case aside after removing her blade she readies herself. Slashing as fast as she can she cuts all of the projectiles as many times as she can. The balls freeze, then fall to the ground. Yori suddenly snaps his fingers next to her, the clicking of his fingers adding a dramatic effect as all of the balls split into multiple pieces before turning to little bits of string.

She smirks as Hakodate glowers at her, the tennis captain squeezing a ball between her fingers as she bared her shark-like teeth at her.

"Fault!" the swordsman shouted, "You're disqualified new girl."

"What?!" she questioned.

"I'll give you credit for stopping Hakodate's attack, but slicing balls in half is against the rules."

What in the hell? What was this guy talking about?

"Sanageyama, she cut those into at least six pieces each. I'm sure that's not half. Besides, since when does defending yourself against your opponent constitute a disqualification?"

"Haven't you realized you're on a tennis court?"

"And?" Yori questioned, "Since when has that ever mattered when a fight happens at Honnouji Academy?"

"It matters now that I say it does. If she didn't win according to the rules of tennis she didn't win!"

"Come on! What about what happened yesterday?!" she demanded.

"Yeah…well, that was yesterday."

"Wow, Sanageyama. You have so little faith in Hakodate's skill that you feel like you need to cheat for her? It's the finisher isn't it? She didn't choose one that has only four syllables so you dismiss it."

Hakodate looks stunned at suddenly being brought into the conversation, but once she realizes what Yori said she cuts her eyes and looks to Sanageyama.

"That doesn't matter. She's still disqualified."

"No, she totally won!" Mako yelled suddenly as she appears between her and Hakodate.

Somehow the girl moves back in between her and Yori and the ropes binding her fall to the ground as if they were never holding her in the first place. She crosses her arms above her head and a spotlight from nowhere. She begins to move erratically as she speaks.

"Ryuko won! She won, and I'll prove it!"

Everyone except Yori is in complete shock as she continues, "If Ryuko hadn't stepped in and save me yesterday I'd be totally dead right now. So even though technically she lost the match, because of friendship she totally won. Everyone on the planet knows if you win at friendship you win at life! But if you guys are gonna cheat you leave her no choice!"

From nowhere Mako produces a tennis racket as she backs toward her, "Ryuko will win. Even in tennis, even in tennis, even in tennis! She'll win!"

She hears a scoff and looks over to Hakodate, who seems to be the only one to have recovered from the shock between the three of them,

"If the new girl wants to challenge me to a tennis match, that's fine by me." The tennis captain snarls as her monocle scope thing cycles from green to red.

She looks back to Mako, an innocent smile on her face as she offers her the racket, "Here you go, knock her socks off."

Then she feels a hand on her shoulder causing her to look to Yori, "It's your choice, but you should be fine."

Looking between them both she sighs as a smile tugs her lips, "Alright, I gotcha."

She takes the racket from Mako and walks to her position on the court with confidence. "Come on then, let's do this!"

Takaharu is suddenly ushered into the spiked arena with all the other no-stars in the Yard. He looks to the tennis court to find the Matoi girl in a match with Omiko Hakodate.

"This'll be one game and one game only!" Sanageyama yelled out from place on the elevated ref's platform, "Who's gonna serve first?"

"I got your back, Ryuko!" a girl yells from next to him, causing him to wince. He turns to find Yori standing next to the girl in question. He is looking intently at the court.

The no-star crowd is cheering loudly while he sees the one-star tennis club girls stand silently at the opposite half of the stands that surround the court.

"Watch out!" Matoi yelled as she throws the ball up, preparing to serve, "Here it comes!"

The ball zooms quickly over the net and towards Omiko; the blonde simply licks her lips and winds up her giant, spiked red racket and swings it hard, "Back at you!"

The ball curves in mid-flight and bounces high in the air. At the speed it was moving it would be impossible for a normal person to stop, but Matoi dives for it. Using her whole body she forces the ball back even as her racket threatens to snap. Omiko is obviously surprised she could even stop the ball at all, but quickly recovers as the ball flies in.

"Good going, Ryuko! Don't let your guard down!" Yori shouted

As Matoi's shot bounces into the air Omiko is in front of it instantly. Using only one hand she spikes the ball hard back to Matoi's end of the court.

Matoi sees the shot, and is able to maneuver herself in midair to intercept the ball. Try as she might, however, her racket can't hold against the pressure and snaps. The ball flies through and explodes with a loud pop on one of the large spikes that line the arena.

"Great hit, Hakodate!" he finds himself yelling. Omiko may succeed where he failed at this rate.

"Love-Fifteen!" Sanageyama shouted.

"Nice reflexes." Matoi stated to Omiko.

"I'm just getting warmed up. Speaking of warmed up, I hope you are, because you are about to feel the might of my tennis-spec athleticism augmenting two-star Goku uniform."

Matoi scoffs as she his handed a new racket and ball by one of the one-star tennis girls at the rings edge.

"Motor mouth!" she shouted as she served again.

Omiko, a vicious smile on her face, swings it again. The ball seems to freeze on the net as the familiar twinkling of life fibers emits from her racket. When the ball finally moves it hits the ground on Matoi's side of the court hard enough to crush the concrete.

"This time I'm ready for it!" Matoi screamed as she catches the ball on the rim of her racket.

The members of the crowd rooting for Matoi cheer, but even from here he can see the ball still spinning. After a moment of Matoi fruitlessly struggling to force it back the ball rolls up the racket, then the girls arm, and finally strikes her hard in the face.

"Love-Thirty!" Sanageyama yells

Matoi is sent flipping through the air, the girl finally landing in a very compromising position directly in front of Yori. All of the no-star guys noses begin to spew blood, as his threatens to do as well. The girl next to him blushes as she places her fingers in front of her eyes but opens them to peek through.

"Whoa, you're flashing the crowd Ryuko!"

Yori doesn't react to the girl, instead looking very worried about something. He reaches down and grabs the girl's ankle and flips her with one hand to catch her wrist.

"What the hell!" Matoi growls until she sees Yori lowering her back to the court.

"You have to win this Ryuko. I know you can do this." He said over the crowd.

Matoi nods, then moves back into the server's position, "Ok, that does it!" she shouted

Her uniform does the same thing it did before when she annihilated him at the boxing match, tightening and glowing pink.

"Here we go!" she yelled as she throws the ball up and swings with all her might…and the force destroys the racket and the ball.

Everyone is silent for a moment until a cheesy grin appears on Sanageyama's face. "And fault!"

"Gaahh! Come on! What's Omiko going to gain if she wins through cheap equipment?!" Yori shouted angrily. "Get Ryuko a decent racket!"

"Shut it, Red!" Sanageyama yelled back, "Hurry up and serve transfer student."

Matoi bounces the tennis ball once, and serves using much less strength before. Perhaps too little strength as it simply bounces off of the net.

"Double fault! Love-Forty!" Sanageyama shouted.

Matoi hunches over, appearing tired, and suddenly there is a loud pop from next to him. He looks to see the odd brown haired girl lying out on Matoi's scissor blade from its implanted position in the wall. "Ryuko, this is your last shot!" she shouted worriedly.

"What're you waiting for?" Omiko asked, "Hurry up and serve already!"

Matoi stays crouched for a moment before she stands and turns around, "Mako, my scissor!"

The odd girl, who had somehow fallen back asleep quickly after a moment ago, wakes and begins to try and pry the blade from the wall. Yori reaches over and catches the girl by her neck tie as she nearly falls after dislodging and tossing the sword.

He watches as the Matoi girl removes a string from her clothing and wraps it in a haphazard crisscross on the handle of her scissor, taking the blade in her hands as she takes up a stance.

"That's not regulation!" Omiko yelled in surprise.

Sanageyama blows hard on his whistle and he hears a loud groan from Yori as the green haired swordsman begins to yell, "Faul…"

Interrupting Sanageyama is a familiar bright emanating from the tower. On instinct he bows as the entire arena falls silent to listen to Lady Satsuki.

"No," she said, "it's fine. Keep playing. Show her the power your two-star uniform Hakodate."

"At once." Omiko stated.

"M'lady!" Sanageyama added with surprise.

"Same as always." Matoi grumbles, "You standing up there on your pedestal like some queen, giving orders to your slaves down below. What a poseur."

His eyebrow twitches, the sheer impertinence of this girl.

"I'm just here to observe, let's see how much power you can draw from that Kamui."

"You bitch. How do you know this thing is called a Kamui?!" Matoi yelled.

"Oh, please." Lady Satsuki said dismissively, "Your opponent is waiting over there."

He finally lifts from his bow, seeing Matoi locked in an angry glare up towards Lady Satsuki. He looks over to Yori, finding the man looking up to Lady Satsuki as well. His gaze is the opposite of Matoi's, a happy smirk on his face before he looks back to the match.

He hears a crushing boom and turns to see Hakodate pointing her racket at Matoi, "I'm going to use you to loosen up for the Hokkaido match."

Matoi spins her blade, adjusting her reverse grip on the scissor, "Let's get you loosened up then."

Matoi serves, a blinding pink light emanating from the impact of her scissor blade racket with the ball. The tennis ball is invisible to him until Omiko intercepts it. Showing great strength Omiko is able to force the ball back, but Matoi is already at the edge of the fence. Matoi spikes the ball, the surprised Omiko just barely able to put her racket between her face and the projectile.

This does little as the ball forces the racket onto her face before launching her to the far arena wall. The impact causes an explosion of dust, large stone spikes, and one-star bodies. Matoi quickly flips her blade and uses it to cut away at the spikes that come close to her. He hears Omiko screaming as she bounces with some of the rubble back towards Matoi.

With a well-timed cut from Matoi, Omiko is sent spinning before her uniform explodes into shredded fabric. Her nude body flies and lands on the spike directly in front of him. He feels a furious blush overcome him as he looks down. The now unconscious Omiko is sprawled before him; her legs spread apart not allowing the girl any kind of coverage.

He is suddenly crowded by every boy, except unsurprisingly Yori, nearby as they try and stare at the defenseless tennis captain. He feels guilty as he looks back to the girl. Omiko got even farther than he did against Matoi, and yet now she was being shown no respect for how well she had done. Without giving any warnings to the perverted boys he begins to punch them away.

With the last of them sent flying he takes off his coat and drapes it over Omiko before pulling himself onto the spike with her. He picks her up gently and moves back to the stands. As he turns he stops to see Yori looking at him, the man nodding with approval. He nods back but suddenly the cheering crowd falls silent.

He turns back to find Sanageyama and a group of one-stars preparing to attack Matoi, but what had made everyone silent is Lady Satsuki. She is descending her great retractable staircase from the top of the tower down to a spot directly behind Sanageyama.

"Wait, Sanageyama. She's right, it's over. The new girl wins."

Gasping in surprise everyone but Matoi jumps away and bows as low as they can, except for Sanageyama who drops to one knee.

"Now that we're face to face again, I wanna know if you're the one who killed my dad." Matoi said as she stood with her scissor blade at the ready.

As the last word leaves the new girl's mouth however there is a flash and the sound of rending metal. Lady Satsuki stands with her sword drawn before Matoi, who now has a chip missing from the piece of armor on her left arm.

"If you wish to know the answer," Lady Satsuki said lowly. "Then fight me for it."

Lady Satsuki lifts her sword slightly, but he is torn from the fight as Yori nudges his arm.

"I recommend that you get down and stay behind me," he said as he drops down to the court with the odd girl. "Mako, hold on tight ok?"

Yori moves forward enough to give him and the still unconscious Omiko in his arms enough space behind him. The grim tone of the man's voice causes him to comply. He sees Mako grip tightly to Yori as he brings his arms into a cross guard.

He barely has time to question why Yori was blocking when he hears the clash of metal. Suddenly there is a veritable typhoon of dust, rubble, and one-star bodies around them. The wind nearly knocks him from his feet as he sees Mako whipping in the wind in front of him just as Omiko's pig-tails are. Even as stones and bodies bounce off his arms Yori doesn't budge, and just as suddenly as it began it is over.

Daring a glance around Yori he sees Matoi struggling to hold back Lady Satsuki, the new girl struggling to hold her back with two hands while Lady Satsuki only used one. He is stunned, he knew Lady Satsuki was powerful, but as he looks on the ruined ground around him he is reminded of how much. The land around them all the way to the exit gate is in ruins, only a pocket of it is left untouched thanks to Yori's intervention. All the students that were caught in the explosion lay scattered throughout the yard, lucky to be alive. All this destruction, caused by a single strike by a woman who didn't use a Goku uniform…

Suddenly there is a smokescreen of steam that clouds his vision. When it clears he finds Yori and Mako gone.

"Next time I see you, we're going to finish this thing!" He hears Matoi yell from behind him, "Let's bail you guys!"

"Ok!" Mako said cheerfully as another steam smokescreen engulfs him.

As it clears, something finally clicks in his mind…what was he supposed to do with Omiko now?!

 _ **A/N: Hope everybody liked this chapter. Once again I'd like to thank CrimsonHeresy and GirthJohnson for reading over these and strongly recommend you check out their stories: Never Losing the Way by Crimson, and both Before My Body is Dry and its sequel First Comes Love by Girth.**_

 _ **Next I'd like to thank both of them, GodzillaFollower1998, Marz0rak, ParkerThomas, Tf2Scout, and jhellou for putting this on their favorites (and most of them following as well). I'd also like to thank Symbermine and jimenezja12 for following this.**_


	8. Chapter 8

**That night…**

Ryuko can't help but smile as she watches Yori receive a similar treatment from the Mankanshoku family that she did when she was first a guest here. Mako practically forced him to take part in the victory dinner before he could rush home. He seemed anxious to leave, but as his stomach growled he relented stating that it "chose" for him apparently.

Yori stares questionably at the food fighting his obvious hunger, and chokes when Mako shoves one of the croquettes down his throat. Once again they were eating mystery meat croquettes, but even though its contents were questionable Mrs. Sukuyo somehow made them tasty. Tasty enough, apparently, for Yori snap the next incoming croquette right out the chopsticks Mako held much to the girls surprise and for him to force Guts, the family dog, away from his bowl so he can plunge into the remainder of his meal. As he guzzles his miso soup in a similar style to the other men at the table he grabs more croquettes with his hand rather than his chopsticks and loads his plate, tossing the last directly into his maw before digging into the others without utensils.

"God, you eat like an animal." She laughed.

"Yeah…"he said between bites, "old orphan habit, hard to kick."

A small pang of empathy hits her chest. She apparently isn't alone in the no family department. "When were you orphaned?" she finds herself asking.

Yori shrugs without looking away from his food, "Before I could remember, I never chose to worry about it."

The pile rapidly shrinks as Yori and Mr. Barazo quickly chomp away at the food, poor Mataro and Guts unable to keep pace at all as her and the other two girls eat less messily. She wanted to keep the conversation going, curious as to why Yori didn't care what happened to his family, but as the last croquette sits in the center of the large plate she has to stifle a snicker. All the men give each other looks similar to a western standoff. As she catches a look at Yori's deep blue eyes she sees a predatory look in them, and…

 _"_ _Wait, where the hell did the croquette go?!"_ she thought after a moment, it had just disappeared, replaced with Yori licking his fingers in victory, how did he grab it that fast?

"Impressive." the now familiar voice of Senketsu said.

"No kidding," she mumbles back, "how did he do that?"

Before anyone can comment he stands and thanks Mrs. Sukuyo for the meal and leaves, mentioning he's running late to meet up with his girlfriend.

Yori rushes over the rooftops as quickly as possible. He let himself get too sidetracked with that dinner. Finally he drops down to the street his shack is on and barges inside, but stops as he catches an unfamiliar scent. Looking around he finds none other than Omiko Hakodate standing in the kitchen area…in nothing but a towel.

She stares at him in shock, but he simply moves along once he shakes off her presence and waves to her as he rushes to his room. He could figure out why Takaharu brought her here during math tomorrow since they all share that class. He doesn't catch anything but the boxer's residual scent so he could surmise that Takaharu might be out getting Omiko's stuff for her, meaning he probably invited her to stay here.

In any case he slips on his jacket and rushes outside. He is thankful the path up to the school is abandoned save for a couple of dogs and quickly uses his newfound life fiber boost to launch himself high into the air

Spinning in mid-air as the dim lights of his transforming jacket flare he can feel the leather grip tightly to his chest as well as the added appendages on his back. With one mighty beat of his leathery wings he launches himself towards the school.

As usual his hands itch as his activated jacket claws for its connection to Kurahaji but finding the clawed gauntlets missing. So many different smells hit his nose as he zooms over the city, but the only one that concerns him is the one of Satsuki Kiryuin.

Satsuki laid there on the bed, a burning feeling in her chest. In all the years they have been together Yori had never been late.

As she hears the door open she sits up, finding she is met with a worried look.

"Are you ok?" he asked, his concern causing the feeling to ease. She replaces this with a stern gaze.

"You are late."

Her red haired lover scratches the back of his head nervously as he walks to her, "I was hungry so I had dinner with the Mankanshokus and Matoi."

The feeling returns once more and she fights a frown as she nods, "I see."

Gently placing his hands on her shoulders he looks her in the eye once more. After a moment he pulls her into his embrace. There are no words shared as he holds her, but even though it eases her heart the feeling doesn't leave.

"It is late; we should retire for the night." She said once the feeling eases to its lowest point.

As they slip into bed, his arm curls under her and brushes her hair as always, and her hand reaches his scar the feeling finally dissipates enough for her to sleep.

 **The next day…**

Ryuko quickly rushes into the school yard, glad to be free of Mikisugi's apartment. She was barely sure that the information he gave was worth having to sit through his stripping. She had other plans today anyway, since Yori invited her to some place called "The Arena". As she approaches the place she sees it lives up to its name, and can't help but be curious as to how these places seem to appear in the yard of the academy out of nowhere.

As she enters she is met with the gazes of multiple students with various different armors and weapons, most of them two stars. Out of habit she reaches her hand to her guitar case with her scissor, but none of the students make a move for her.

"What are you here for, new girl?"

She turns to find a hooded figure polishing a curved sword, a quiver of arrows and a bow set near him as well as the knife filled bandolier indicate he was some sort of hunter or more dexterous fighter. A bit of brown hair blocks one of his green eyes from view as he looks up at her.

"I'm lookin for my friend Yori, you seen him?" She stated.

"He's over there." He replied pointing across the room.

In the back she spies Yori speaking to a knight in armor accented with blue cloth, its face shrouded by its helmet. On its hip is a whip, and next to it is a large slab of steel jabbed into the ground. Upon closer inspection she sees the slab is actually a giant sword.

"Glad you chose to arrive." He said flatly once she was closer. His mood didn't seem much more improved since this morning.

"What's eatin your ass? You've been actin weird since homeroom."

"Girl trouble it seems." The knight giggles, revealing a feminine voice.

Yori cuts his eyes at the knight, but sighs, "She's right. I ran late because of that dinner last night and my girl seemed off when I got home." He shakes his head, "Regardless I asked you here because this is one of the few clubs that could train you."

She blinks a couple times, "What the hell makes you think I need to be trained, I've handled myself fine so far."

"Not from what I've witnessed young lady." The knight interjected, "Your combat ability relies on sheer power, and you'll need more than that if you plan to do well in my club."

"Who said I want be in your stupid club?!" she snapped back.

"I did."

She looks to Yori in shock, "What the hell…?!"

He stops her with a raised hand, "You've done great against Fukuroda and Hakodate, but not all the two-stars are that overconfident or new to their abilities. That's not to mention the Elite Four. If you can't beat everyone who challenges you you'll have no chance against Satsuki."

She begins to retort, but is stopped by Senketsu, "He's right Ryuko. You were barely able to hold back a one handed strike from Satsuki yesterday. If you refuse to wear me properly this may be the only way you will find your answers."

"Whose side are you on?" she mumbled to Senketsu.

"In the end it is your choice. If you would rather keep going as you are I won't bother you with this again." Yori said solemnly.

She sighs, "Fine, if it'll make you feel better."

Yori nods and takes a seat on the bench behind him as the knight moves to a spot away from her, grabbing the sword from the ground and taking it with her with ease. She can't see any stars on the knight's back as she moves away.

"As you wish, but I must warn you not to underestimate our esteemed Principal Mariko." Yori said, adding a bit of sarcasm to his last words.

 _"_ _Wait, this chick is the principal?! If I can beat her maybe she can tell me what I need to know!"_

"Mariko sensei, as club president would it not be best for me to test the new girls mettle in battle?" she hears a boisterous voice say. Turning she finds a second knight standing next to the knight principal. He is wearing a bucket helmet with a large red feather protruding from it, and on his chest plate is a bright sun emblem that seems to be painted on by its owner rather than an original part of the suit.

"She is here specifically to learn Tsun, I must quiz her ability myself in order to perform my duty as a teacher."

The bucket knight nods, and then moves away as the knight principal looks to her, "Activate your Kamui, Matoi! You must always perform at your best!" the woman said sternly.

She can't help the feral smirk that comes on her face, "You got it, but if I beat you I want you to answer some questions for me!"

The knight principal says nothing more as she gets into a battle stance.

Yanking the pin on the Seki Tekko she activates Senketsu. Even though none of the people around her so much as flinch at her new look the embarrassment still hits. She tosses her case to the bench after removing her scissor and takes her own stance. The sun dude stands at a place mid-way between them off to the right.

"May the souls of both combatants bring glory to the Weapons Master's Club Arena! Fight!" He shouted.

As soon as the word "fight" left the sun bro's mouth the knight principal launches directly at her, her great sword gripped in her left hand. She is moving quickly…for someone not using not using one of Satsuki's stupid uniforms. Compared to how fast Senketsu makes her Principal Mariko may as well be walking.

"Man, this'll be too easy." She mumbles.

"Be careful, Ryuko. Something doesn't seem right." Senketsu replied.

She times her strike to just before Mariko gets within range. Suddenly the entire momentum of the swing is thrown back at her as Mariko parries the blow with her great sword. She is thrown back onto her behind and barely has time to block as Mariko's great blue blade comes down on her.

"What the hell?! How is this chick so strong?"

"I told you not to underestimate her." she heard Yori yell absentmindedly as he texts on his phone.

Mariko's blade comes down slowly until it touches her forehead. The blade leaves no cut because of Senketsu, but after it makes contact Mariko jumps back and allows her to stand.

Once she is back on her feet she waits for Mariko to attack again, but the knight principal makes no moves to do so.

"You makin fun of me or something?"

Mariko shakes her head, "As I have mentioned, I must quiz you. I have gauged you in your initial reaction, now I must test your true skill. Now come."

Mariko ends her statement with a gesture of her extended hand pulling her fingers inward in a beckoning motion that pisses Ryuko off.

She roars as she charges forward. She feints her swing as Mariko attempts the same parry from earlier and takes the opening to swing at the knight principals now open stance. Without breaking her flow Mariko is rolling past her and when Ryuko turns she sees Mariko spinning with her blade low to the ground.

Jumping out the way she is forced to pull up a block as Mariko takes her great sword in both hands and launches herself into a forward somersault slash.

"Now you're pissing me off!" She yelled as she forced the knight back to the ground, "Let's win this Senketsu!"

Her outfit begins to tighten but she is interrupted as she feels something wrap around her waist and she is violently yanked downward. Steam from Senketsu blocks her view of the ground and the next thing she knows there is a metal boot in her face.

Her fury grows as she kicks up and strikes off the knight principal's helmet, revealing a brown haired woman with determination in her blue eyes. The look reminds Ryuko of Satsuki Kiryuin which only servers to piss her off more.

Hopping back on her feet she quickly spins and catches the knight principal with the flat of her blade. Mariko is thrown into the nearby wall, causing her to drop her great sword. Ryuko brings back her scissor while the incapacitated knight slowly stands and spits out a bit of blood.

"Scissor blade decapitation mode!" she and Senketsu yelled. With this proclamation her scissor unfolds into an extended mode.

She roared as she brings her blade across, but at the last moment Mariko rolls under it. She continues the swing and Mariko rolls over it. Before she can complete another rotation Mariko's whip is wrapped around the handle of her scissor. The sudden reversal of force combined with her own movement rips the blade from her grasp.

It flies across the arena floor and towards a collection of the club members. The two stars either roll out the way or pull up shields, but it clips a couple of one star club members. While the students are harmlessly thrown away their low quality armors shatter on impact and what little life fibers they held float into Senketsu. She rushes to the blade, but is intercepted by Mariko.

"Get out of my way!" she roared.

She swings a fist at the knight principal, but Mariko simply redirects the strike and lands a blow to her center that threatens to knock the air from her chest. She is thrown back to the wall next to Mariko's great sword.

Growling she takes the weapon in hand and charges at its owner. Mariko reaches into a pouch on her left hip and begins to toss small explosives at her, forcing her to move around them.

"You only have about five minutes left before you pass out, Ryuko." Senketsu said, causing her to grit her teeth.

She is almost on Mariko, and comes down on the knight principal with a two handed slash and a roar.

At the last second there is the chink of metal followed by a loud pop. She looks to Mariko, a pained grimace on her face as her left arm falls limp. The knight principal was able to deflect her blow using her scissor, but the force of the hit either broke or dislocated her arm.

Without hesitation Mariko slashes at her and forces her back.

As the fight continues she had to admit the way Mariko wielded her scissor was elegant, especially compared to her using the woman's great sword. Mariko's swings would always flow in long, curved spins or flowing slashes while her retaliations treated the blade she held as a club.

Finally she sees her chance, one of Mariko's wide swings heads for her chest. At the last moment she is able to parry the blow in the same way Mariko did to her at the start of the fight. Mariko is sent down onto her behind. As she brings the great blade back for a finishing swing however there is a bright flash.

"I'm sorry Ryuko, any more blood and you would fall unconscious." Senketsu said as the great blade becomes almost too heavy to hold.

"It seems you have run out of time Miss Matoi." Mariko said as she used Ryuko's scissor to help herself up, returning the blade once she is on her feet.

"You are over confident and reckless. On top of this you have no real form to your attacks," The woman began firmly, causing her to sneer in anger.

"but you learn quickly and have an innate ability for combat it seems. In the end you did well." Mariko ended gently with a soft smile.

Yori reads the text message from Nonon as he stands and walks to Ryuko and Mariko.

 _I don't know what to tell you Boy Scout. Just because I've known her longer doesn't mean I know EVERYTHING that goes through her head, especially things dealing with you. If I have to guess though, I'd bet one of your precious choices upset her._

He sighed, she was likely right, and since the only choice he's made recently that would affect his lover was standing in front of him that meant…he shook the thought from his mind. The Kamui deal was one thing, but Satsuki knew his heart beat for her alone. There was no way she could be jealous.

He looks up at Mariko and Ryuko; the two seemed to be getting along well considering their abrupt meeting. A student with simple steel armor and a mace moves to set Mariko's arm while the woman answers any questions Ryuko asks.

"So Ryuko, what is your choice?" he asked as he approached. "Are you willing to train with the Weapon Master's club?"

She looks at him for a moment, "I guess this isn't so bad, but why won't you just train me yourself?"

He was wondering when she would ask, "I only spar regularly with one person." He answered before thinking _"and considering how she's been I'd prefer not to tick her off more than I might have already."_

"Whatever man, come on, Mako's probably waiting for us."

He moves past her, waving as he goes, "Tell her I'll see you both tomorrow, I have a date with my girl."

Satsuki takes a sip of her tea as she looks across the table at Yori, his gaze full of worry. Whether that worry was from his realization that she truly was jealous that the Matoi girl was getting to spend time with him that she could not, or that she was planning to don her "wedding dress" she could not say.

"You said before putting on that thing was going to be a last resort because of the risks. I'm honestly not comfortable with this choice you've made…"

"But as always you will not stop me." She interrupted, "I appreciate your concern, but this is necessary."

"So why not use a simple uniform to boost yourself?"

She knew what he was getting at, and in truth he was right. She could likely defeat Matoi at her current level with a simple two star uniform or a three if she was being generous...

This was no longer such a simple thing. She needed to crush Matoi thoroughly for the insult of her donning a Kamui before her and of taking time with Yori circumstance took from her. Besides, she doesn't see anything worth their time in Matoi any longer.

But for now she sighs, knowing that full well her jealousy involving Yori was an irrational thing, "Let us just enjoy our meal, my love. Enough talk of the things we must do to fulfill my ambition."

She reaches across the table and he gently takes her hand, squeezing it softly before he allows himself to relax, "So long as you return to me safe and sound I would love to."

Yori tries to suppress a yawn as Ryuko lets one of her own free next to him.

"What're you guys yawning for? Didn't you sleep?" Mako asked as they continue walking to the school.

"No…" he grumbled. Last night was the first time he didn't have Satsuki next to him in years, and it felt so wrong. At least his stay at his shanty was nice before bed. Takaharu and Omiko seemed to be getting along well, and with someone actually living in it now his large shanty actually seemed to be turning into a decent home.

"Me neither, I feel like something bad's about to happen." Ryuko said.

As if on cue when they enter the yard a path of flags and cloth barricades with the school emblem on them marks a straight path to the school. They follow it to just before the school building and the barricade splits around into a ring with Satsuki's stairway to heaven already lowered. As they follow it to the tower a blinding light shines down on them. Once his eyes recover he can see Satsuki at the top. She is wearing a sort of commander's uniform with a short cut skirt and thigh high heels in her general white and blue color scheme other than the accented gold.

With his enhanced vision he can also see the red eye like pieces near her collar, _"So that is her Kamui?"_

"Satsuki Kiryuin!" Ryuko growled.

"Correct, Ryuko Matoi." Satsuki replied

Ryuko scoffs, "I gotta hand it to ya this is some welcome. You got something on your mind, or are you just gonna stand there lookin tough!?"

"The last time I saw you, you said we would, quote, "Finish this thing.""

"Well aren't you the conscientious type," Ryuko glances over to Mako and him, "you guys better get back."

"Will do!" Mako stated, "I wanna live a long and healthy life!"

Mako then grabs his arm and attempts to drag him with her beyond the nearby barricade, but he fights her slightly. Everything seemed fine with Satsuki, but he wouldn't believe it until he saw her activate that thing and she remain the woman he loved.

Satsuki takes her last step off the stairway and plants Bakuzan firmly in front of her, "Congratulations, you have the honor of being my first offering to Junketsu."

"Purity? Didn't know there was anything pure about you." Ryuko snarked.

Satsuki's hand reaches to the blue clips on her left arm, "Allow me to show you."

He hears a series of clicks followed by the scent if Satsuki's blood. There is a flash of light before Satsuki is revealed once more…and the sight causes all the blood to rush to his head.

His love is left standing in an outfit that in his opinion puts Senketsu to shame. While the large, eyed shoulder pads are a bit unsettling that doesn't change the fact that in all the other places she's practically naked. Her ample chest is held in place by an open breastplate that only covers her nipples and outer breast, and everything down to her thigh highs are only covered by straps and a thin layer of clothing on her most sensitive spot. Her thigh highs have a sort of frilly cloth that only adds to the appeal. Lastly her sleeves have changed into a pair of skin tight gloves that reach all the way to the shoulders and have a sort of gauntlet protecting the tops of her hands.

As she changes her stance he sees her back before her hair covers it, nearly every inch exposed including her glorious…

There is a flash from across the arena that snaps him out of his ogling. That's when he notices the wet feeling on his lip, as he wipes his nose he looks up to see Nonon. She has her phone directed at him and has the most devious look he's ever seen on her. He looks to his hand to find blood on it.

"Well…shit."

He slashes a bit of cloth quickly from the barricade and plugs his nose, thankful that the hyperactive no stars have forced him back to get a look at the now transformed Ryuko.

He feels his phone vibrate but doesn't have a chance to answer before there is an explosion from the ring.

The foolish Matoi girl charges her, to which a lazy slash from Bakuzan immediately stops her advance and forces her to block. The sheer force of Satsuki's swing forces Matoi back a step before it breaks and decimates the onlookers offside's the girl.

Without a second thought she continued her assault, the slashes may break on Matoi's scissor but they hit her regardless, small bits of the girls blood spattering onto the ground behind her.

"I know, I know, geez!" Matoi yelled before dashing to her left.

She doesn't bother to turn as she plants Bakuzan behind her to stop Matoi's swing. Dust shoots up around them and steam releases from Junketsu.

She can feel the power coursing through her, even in the slight movements of lifting her arm and clenching her fist, "Impressive. More than I could ever have imagined!"

 _"_ _If only Yori was more assertive. Surely even my mother could not handle the two of us, each with their own Kamui."_ She looks back at Matoi.

She slams Bakuzan deeper into the earth, the force knocking Matoi off her feet. With speed that makes Matoi seem to float in mid air she pulls her sword back up and simply taps the hilt on the eye of the girls Kamui. A flash passes through Matoi before she is sent flying though the air and crashing into the school building.

She rushes to the hole in the building without effort, able to walk up the wall as if it were running on the ground, "This is the power of a Kamui, but even with all of this you can only use it to run away!"

"Not even!" Matoi roars, revealing herself as she throws a collection of desks off herself.

She attempts a strike on Matoi, but stops short as the girl attempts a familiar parry motion.

 _"_ _I see Yori had Mariko show her a few tricks. No matter, defeating her will take no more effort than killing a fly. Perhaps this will change his thoughts on her usefulness."_ As if she never stopped she continues her swing, Matoi barely able to change her parry to a block in time to save herself as she is propelled through the floor.

Their fight, if you could call it that, carries on through the halls. She doesn't land as many blows on Matoi as she would have expected thanks to the timed dodges the girl learned, but it makes no difference.

In this moment she is able to prove she is superior to Matoi in every way.

"You're nothing…Just a lump of mindless flesh, squeezed into a Kamui!" she yelled

"Oh yeah?!" Matoi shouted back through gritted teeth, "What makes you any different?!"

"I am nothing like you. I have mastered the art of wearing my Kamui, of wearing Junketsu!"

Her strike launches Matoi deeper into the building, the broken steel and shattered glass obscuring Matoi from her sight. It only takes a few more steps before she can hear Matoi yelling at her Kamui to find her, and once more she sends the foolish girl flying.

Yori watches as Ryuko is thrown back out of the building, landing with an explosive crash in the little arena.

Senketsu returns to his inactivated form and Ryuko slumps into the ground exhausted. He can hear Mako whine in worry as Satsuki drifts down towards Ryuko like an angel of death.

Satsuki reaches down and grabs Ryuko by the hair, forcing her up while Ryuko attempts in vain to free herself.

He couldn't help but feel torn about the situation. On the one hand he knew Satsuki needed this victory for her pride. On the other however while he could see Ryuko's potential as an ally he was sure with this performance Satsuki would not. In the end it was her choice whether or not to spare Ryuko.

And as his love throws Ryuko to the ground, a ferocious glare in her eye, he knew which one was coming.

"Exhibitionist. Nonsense! To unleash the most power this is the form a Kamui must take! You cling to the puritanical views of the masses, proving just how inferior you are! But I won't be ashamed. If it means I can fulfill my ambitions, I will bare my breasts for all to see, I will do whatever it takes! For I know my actions are utterly pure!"

With her speech done Satsuki raises her blade in preparation to strike Ryuko down.

That's when he notices Mako's whining has stopped. Before he can even turn his head he sees Mako running directly for Satsuki and Ryuko.

 _"_ _Well this is unexpected."_

Ryuko forces herself to stare down Satsuki through the pain. If she was goin down she wouldn't do it like some weak bitch.

That's when Mako places herself between them, her arms crossed above her head as a spotlight illuminates her. In the background from somewhere she hears a chorus sing "Hallelujah".

"Come on Ryuko, get naked!"

 _"…_ _What?"_ is all she can think as a confused look covers Satsuki's face a well.

"I know for a fact that you, yes you, are not inferior to Lady Satsuki! Your boobs are way bigger than hers!" Mako began as she used exaggerated body language to get her point across. In a flash her friend is behind her, cupping her boobs with a crazed look in her eyes, "Way bigger!"

Then just as suddenly she is back where she started, "I know cause I saw 'em! "That Ryuko," my family said, "she's got a great rack!" We were all talking about what a slammin body you have! So perk up and stop being embarrassed. Rip your clothes off and get naked!"

As the spotlight fades Mako is left breathing heavily and Satsuki is left with a befuddled look on her face.

But in that moment she understood what she had been doing wrong.

Satsuki's face twists into one of anger, "What is this nonsense! Nothing about you is even remotely mature, and I am thoroughly done with both of you!"

She feels new strength in her limbs as she is able to block Satsuki with one arm.

"What she said isn't nonsense." She strains as she attempts to force Satsuki back, "It ain't nonsense at all!"

"Do it!" Senketsu said abruptly.

"You got it." She replied as she pulled her gloves pin with her teeth.

"I finally get it now, I need to get naked. Putting on a Kamui means becoming one with you, it means you becoming one with me. That's what it means to master wearing you, isn't that right Senketsu?"

"Yes, exactly!"

"Life Fiber Synchronize: Kamui Senketsu!"

Dashing in quickly Yori scoops up Mako, and the whole time he is laughing.

Mako still has a starry eyed look as he slides to a stop next to Nonon and the others.

He glances back, seeing Satsuki being forced back much to his surprise.

Now that he thought on it however maybe it wasn't that much of a surprise; the two of them have spent so long, untouchable at the top. They had reached their peak, with him unable to wear a Kamui. Now that Ryuko has unlocked her true strength though he was able to give Satsuki the perfect opponent for her might.

"Scissor blade: Decapitation mode!"

With a mighty slash Ryuko slices just above Satsuki's body; his love leaned back with an unnatural flexibility. The swing carves deep into the ground, then up the wall behind Satsuki before it loops back around. The gash then explodes into an eruption of dust that obscures the pair from sight, the only sound after a moment is the familiar click of Satsuki's heel. Then a sigh.

And lastly a whispered "I guess you were right dear."

As the dust settles he gets a smirk on his face. Satsuki snaps up, in a prepared stance, "Now it's gotten interesting."

He gently moves Mako behind him as the women collide once more, the impacts from their clashes exploding erratically around the whole school yard. The bodies of many of the students there are sent flying all over the place. There is so much chaos he can barely keep track of the fight. Ryuko throws a punch that Satsuki blocks but the force crushes the wall behind her. Then Satsuki kicks and does the same to Ryuko. Blow after blow they seem to be doing more damage to the school than to each other. Finally they unleash one furious swing at each other with such might he can practically see the power behind them.

"Hang on!" He shouted as he planted his feet. While the Four seem confused by the outburst thankfully Mako understands and grips him tightly.

There is a slight outward shock that suddenly implodes on itself before it switches back to an outward blast that is multitudes bigger than any before it.

Shielding his eyes all he can see is dust as debris strikes him. He can no longer see Nonon, who was only a few steps from him, let alone the others. When the force dies down the dust settles enough for him to see Nonon and Inumuta and part of Gamagoori.

He hears the hissing of steam deeper within the clouds of dust ahead before he hears Ryuko grunt and the sounds of a collapse.

"I'm gonna smash all of 'em" Ryuko's voice stated after a moment.

He feels Mako release her grip, a worried look on her face as she tries to peer into the dust. He places a hand on her shoulder and gives a reassuring smile without looking away from where Ryuko's voice is coming from.

"All of what?" Satsuki's voice asked.

"All that crap you've been talking about, ambition this aspirations that. I'm gonna take 'em all, smash every last one of them and shove your goddamn face in it! Then you'll be begging to tell me what I wanna know."

Finally the dust settles enough for him to see them, Satsuki making her way over to them and the stairway that somehow survived the chaos.

"So you're going to crush my ambitions are you?" Satsuki asked as she climbed the stair a bit before turning back. The Elite Four have all moved their own bits up as well, "Amusing, Honnouji Academy is my kingdom. If you think you can topple it alone then I accept your challenge. Starting tomorrow every club will be after your head. Still think you can win?"

"You bet your ass I do!" Ryuko stated defiantly, standing and pointing her blade up towards Satsuki for good measure over the heads of the two stars that have maneuvered between her and the stairs.

"As you wish, then defeat each and every student who challenges you. If you manage to do that Junketsu and I will face you again."

"And if I beat you, you tell me everything."

"You have my word on that."

"Then you're on."


	9. Chapter 9

**Early the next morning…**

Yori creeps in as silently as he can. He needs to get his jacket stored in his shanty room, but considering what today is he didn't want to wake Takaharu and Omiko before they needed to get up.

Still like every year he is excited for today. What kind of surprises could Gamagoori and the Disciplinary Committee come up with this semester? On top the usual, Ryuko was here this year. Maybe he could get a race out of her.

 _"_ _I wonder if Mako remembered to tell her about today…probably not."_

Just as he gets into his room an alarm clock goes off. When he comes back out he sees Omiko in the kitchen making a sandwich.

"Morning." He stated as he flops onto the semi-new couch.

He gets an irritated groan as a response. While Omiko would tolerate him when Takaharu was near he knew she didn't like him around. He didn't blame her for her choice. He may not have directly cost her the tennis captain position she worked hard for, but he indirectly set things up for Ryuko to do it.

Still, at least she remained civil enough to feed him. The salmon and rice doesn't last long enough for her to get to the hall again but it was the thought that counted.

There is a yelp from the back room as Omiko likely shocks Takaharu awake somehow, and after a moment he arrives behind her.

"*Yawn* How's it going Yori? You ready for today?" Takaharu asked tiredly

"Just like every semester."

"It's going to be interesting to say the least. I haven't had to take part for years."

"If only we could all be as excited to put our enrollment on the line." Omiko growled sarcastically.

"Don't get so worried." He replied nonchalantly as he relaxed into the couch.

"Yori's right! I'll get you to class on time with these!" Takaharu exclaimed as he slapped the muscles on his left arm, which elicits a giggle from Omiko.

Suddenly the siren for school blares.

"Now let's go kick No-Late Day's ass!"

They make their way outside, Takaharu shoving his bowl of rice in his mouth as they walk. It doesn't take long for them to meet up with all the other no-stars in their procession towards the school. He immediately starts picking up familiar scents: Gamagoori up ahead, Tsun and some of the more daring Weapon Masters mixed in for the challenge of the event, and after a moment he can smell Mako and Ryuko closing in.

As always they make a boisterous entrance thanks to Mako, splashing into the crowd with Ryuko using her scissors guitar case as a sort of float to hold them up over the crowd. He assumed the guys holding them would be trying to look up the girls skirts, but as he gets a good look at Ryuko he sees she's in bunny pajamas.

He lets out a laugh. "What are you wearing Ryuko?!" he asked as he fought his way through the crowd to her.

Ryuko blushes and attempts in vain to cover some of the rabbits on her pajamas, "M-Mrs. Mankanshoku is washing Senketsu so I'm stuck in these, at least until they deliver it later."

"Well that's too bad; this outfit suits you much better. It's just as useless as you are." He heard Omiko quip from behind him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ryuko growled back.

"We've been at Yori's place here in the slums." Takaharu stated with less of his usual bluster in his tone. "We were demoted and kicked out of our homes in the two-star district because you beat us."

"What the…you mean Satsuki just threw you away like garbage because you couldn't beat me?" She asked incredulously before mumbling "What a bitch."

"Anyway, I'm assuming Mako explained what No-Late Day was by now." He interjected, derailing the others as they let out irritated grumbles.

"Not really, what the hell is it…?"

She is interrupted as the shacks ahead break apart and he can hear the canned fake evil laugh that Gamagoori usually uses.

"Are you confused Matoi?!" the giant exclaimed from the large platform that now juts out from some nearby buildings.

"Oh, bite me, you Elite jerk!"

"My name is Ira Gamagoori, Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee!" Gamagoori began with his head held proudly high. "Pay attention new girl. You are participating in No-Late day. Once every semester, you will be required to run an obstacle course designed by the Disciplinary Committee. It begins at 4 A.M. when the siren goes off, and then no-star students have to evade the traps in the course and make it to class on time at 8:30 A.M. before the first bell tolls."

"But if you happen to be late, you will be expelled on the…What the hell!" Gamagoori exclaimed when he finally looks at Ryuko, "That is not a regulation uniform!"

He sighed, if only Gamagoori wouldn't have noticed. He wasn't even going to bother to try and convince Gamagoori to let Ryuko in the running anyway, he knew the man was strict about the rules and he respected Gamagoori enough to let him have his way. It was just too bad he was going to have to help Ryuko blow through the course after she got her Kamui…

His thoughts are interrupted by Mako's sudden outburst.

"It is so not!"

Suddenly Mako is on the platform with Gamagoori, the giant stunned at how she seemingly teleported up to him, but Mako continues on one of her usual rants that force a smile on his face.

"She was asleep until a minute ago! It's normal for people to wear pajamas when they sleep, isn't it? It is and you know it, and you can't deny it! Maybe you don't know about pajamas, is that it? Don't you wear them when you sleep?"

"No, I…sleep in the nude…" Gamagoori admitted confusedly.

He's never seen the giant this lost before, Mako was on her way to pulling off the impossible; she was going to convince Gamagoori to make a different choice.

"If you sleep like that you'll catch cold! What happens if there's an emergency and people need punishing? You'll be at home in bed!"

"Well, I…"

Gamagoori was dumbstruck.

"From now, please wear pajamas like everyone else!" Mako demanded.

Gamagoori remains confused for several more minutes, and as the giant returns to his formal stance he can feel his smile change from one of amusement to a soft one. It was kind of cute to see little Mako hold sway over the immovable shield of Satsuki Kiryuin, if only for a little while.

"No-star, what's your name?" Gamagoori asked.

"My name is Mako Mankanshoku, and my jammies have Mt. Fuji, two hawks and three eggplants on 'em!" Mako returned defiantly.

"Mankanshoku…I'll remember that." Gamagoori turns to Ryuko, "Matoi! I've _chosen_ to overlook your choice in wardrobe for now."

He gives a quick nod; perhaps Gamagoori was going to let Ryuko though all along.

"I'm curious how you're going to reach the school without your precious Kamui, however." Gamagoori stated as he lifted a red button switch and pressed it. The ground rumbles as all the way up to the academy a spiked walkway with strange amusement park styled traps litter the course.

"AHHHH!" Mako shouted loud enough to startle even him, "Do you see what time it is?! We only have three hours before first period!"

"Huh, the way he talked it up I was expecting something scarier." Ryuko stated confidently, "Alright then, I'm up for this."

"Well if you're up for that then…"

He is interrupted by Gamagoori, "Students! Your commute begins now!"

Takaharu grips Omiko's hand tightly as he forces the no-stars out of his way between him and the top of the stairs. Just before the top he sees Matoi, Mankanshoku and Yori, with only a few ahead of them. Suddenly ahead of them all the steps begin to collapse on themselves, turning into a slide. The ones closest to the top, oddly dressed figures shrouded by the sunlight, leap the remaining distance to the top, but they are the only ones close enough. Still he had to try, he leaps with the others ahead of him but he can already tell he won't make it. He hears the crunching of stone and looks to see Yori reaching his hand to him. He desperately grabs a hold and looks up. Yori has his fingers planted firmly into the stone slide, holding himself in place as he also holds up both he and Omiko. Next to him Matoi, using her scissor, does the same for a flailing Mankanshoku.

"Okay you guys, get ready." Yori warns as he casually tosses them up the remainder of the slide.

He closes his eyes for the flight, still slightly phobic of heights since Matoi threw him. When they land he hits the ground with a thud on his back. He opens his eyes in time to see Omiko falling towards him. He reaches to catch her but it's an awkward attempt with him still on his back. His left wrist pops and he suppresses a pained growl but he is still able to keep the taller girl suspended gently over him through sheer will.

Omiko thankfully removes herself from his hold quickly and helps him to his feet. "Are you alright?" She asked immediately as she begins to examine his wrist.

There is a slight ding in the background as Yori and Matoi launch up from the slide behind Omiko.

"My what a fine catch there lad, in more ways than one!" a jolly toned voice said. He turns to see one of the Knights from the infamous Weapon Master's club. He is in armor that strongly resembles an onion, and in his hand he is offering a ragged cloth to Omiko. "Though you seemed to have sprained your wrist, this should help."

"Sorry you two," Yori said as he approached, "I guess I over shot you just a bit. You didn't get too banged up right?"

"Thanks to you Takaharu has a sprained wrist!" Omiko roared.

"Don't you yell at him, he coulda just left your sorry ass!" Matoi growled as she approached

"Well if it wasn't for you love birds we," Omiko motions between herself and him, "wouldn't even be here!"

Matoi gains a furious blush and Yori frowns for the first time he's ever seen, "She's not my…"

"I am not his girlfriend!" Matoi blurted, drowning out Yori. By now Matoi and Omiko are pressed forehead to forehead growling at each other.

"My, what a bunch we have here! Can't we just all engage in jolly cooperation to make it to class?" a bucket helmed knight with a sun on his chest stated boldly as he moves to the girls.

"Can it bucket head!" they shout simultaneously.

Before he can even get in a word edge wise there is an exaggerated moan from his left.

The whole group turns to find a no star girl with a huge cast falling near Mankanshoku and one of the Weapon Masters in a dark leather set of armor with a matching hood, one of his green eyes covered by his brown hair. He can't help but notice his right hand is wrapped in a cloth similar to the one he has now, but his has a bit of blood leaking from it.

"You alright?" The Knight asked, though he makes no move to help her directly, likely because Mankanshoku is with the girl in an instant.

"Ohmygosh, are you ok? Hey, Ryuko, Yori! This is our classmate, Maiko Ogure!" Mankanshoku stated

Everyone seemingly forgets about their argument in order to check on the girl except for Yori who hangs back with a curious expression on his face.

The girl goes on to explain that she hurt her arm in the trap just like him, but explains that she will push on through the pain.

"Oooooooh, you guys! We have to take her with us!" Mankanshoku begged.

"Why would we do that?!" Omiko growled, "We already have one injured person and Takaharu can actually take care of himself. I refuse to get expelled because we tried to help some dead-weight no-star nobody!"

"God, why are you such a bitch?!" Matoi shouted.

Before another argument can break out there is a reverberating boom that draws everyone's attention to Yori.

He shakes his hands like he just slammed them together and looks up, "Good, you're paying attention. First off, this entire group we've got going is too large to go any farther and this still be a good learning experience."

"Learning ex…" Omiko began, but she is silenced by a single finger from Yori, something about his gaze right now, it felt almost as dominant as Lady Satsuki's.

"Since we have such unique circumstances, with two injured, I suggest a friendly race. It'll be me, Omiko, and Takaharu versus Ryuko, Mako, and Maiko. This way we all get the full benefit of the course and you two," he motions to Omiko and Matoi, "can work out your differences on an equal playing field this time. As always, the choice is yours, if you'd rather we just get to class, that's what we'll do.

He quickly raises his hand, this race sounds like Yori's idea of training, and somehow his training always led to a huge skill increase.

Mankanshoku is next, "Oh, a race sounds super fun!"

Ogure is next, her face holding a strangely devious expression however.

Then Omiko, "If it'll give me a chance to put Matoi in her place I'll gladly take part."

"Right back at'cha ya snaggle toothed bitch." Matoi stated as her own hand rose.

"Good," Yori looks over to the Weapon Masters, who have oddly stayed around for this whole debacle, "I see you're in your no-star armors. Does taking part in this sound like a good choice for you too, Tsun?"

"I will gladly take part if my comrades are willing. What say you Siegfried?"

"Oh, don't you worry old friend, this competition sounds marvelous! Doesn't it Akio my boy?"

"Yeah, sure. We even have our injured member," he said as he raised his hand, "thanks to Kurt's stupid armor catching me earlier. Bastard probably did it on purpose."

"Okay then, we have 999 traps to go, let's get started!" Yori exclaimed.

They quickly close in on the second trap, a simple vertical loop in the path that reconnects to the main path abruptly half way through its second loop. Akio could see some no-stars that started here run as high up the inclined path as they can before they must switch to climbing. They try desperately to climb from spike to spike, but some fall to a spiked platform below.

"Well, we seem to have run flat against a wall…" Siegfried said from next to him before he flops onto his behind and grips where his chin would be on his large onion helmet. "I'm much too heavy to climb these spikes, perhaps I can think of something…Hmmm…."

"I guess that means we get an early lead. Come on Mako!" Matoi exclaimed without hesitation.

He can see Maiko on her back just when he hears a yelp. He turns to find that Hakodate has placed Fukuroda onto Yori's back.

"Come on you two! There's no way I'm losing to Matoi again!" the blonde growled as she dragged Yori forward.

"Aye Aye." Yori said through a snicker.

"Quite a problem we have here." Siegfried stated, "Perhaps you two can go on while I figure a way ahead?"

"Nonsense friend!" Tsun exclaimed, "We will win this race together, not by abandoning our own!"

That's when Akio has an idea, "Do you think you can make that jump?" He asked as he points to a nearby shanty roof.

"Hmm…I believe I can, good thinking my boy!"

"Now we just have to worry about the whips." He grumbled

They leap onto the roof with ease, and he could already make out the beginnings of a path up the shanties to the next level of the course. His thoughts are interrupted as giant spiked whips that attack anyone not on the main path begin to launch at them from all directions.

He is able to gracefully leap out of the way, his light equipment allowing him to roll with the highest speed the Weapon Masters can usually perform. He looks back in time to see Tsun dashing forward to meet him as Siegfried hits the roof with a heavy thud, his cumbersome roll able to avoid the whips and thankfully not crush the roof beneath him.

There is a three second pause before another wave of whips strike at them. Luckily they are able to simply sprint past these, but they can't keep running forever.

Then to his annoyance they hit an actual wall this time.

"Damn…"

"There, a raised ladder, but how to reach it?!" Siegfried exclaimed as they dodge another assault of whips.

That's when a glow catches his eye. Rushing towards it he finds a message left by a fellow Knight scrawled hastily into the roof with a shiny rock placed next to it.

 _Path ahead, but be wary of fatty_

The message is placed on the edge of a gap between the shanties, one much too large for Siegfried to make in his heavy armor however. Just beyond he can see a path that leads around and to the next level where he can kick the ladder down for his allies.

"I'll be back guys!" He yelled back as he steps back and then makes a running jump across.

He sprints as soon as he hits the ground; he didn't want to leave them in danger any longer than necessary. He is nearly clipped by the next whip, their intervals are slowly decreasing. He rounds the corner to meet a whip launching at him. On instinct he grabs the parrying dagger on his belt and attempts to redirect it. The spikes clip him on the forearm, but he is still able to redirect the whip.

 _"_ _Can't take too many hits like that. I gotta hurry."_ He thought as he makes it to the upper gap. He jumps across, nearly being beheaded by a whip as soon as he lands, forcing him to roll forward with the landing.

He can hear his comrades grunt in exertion and can tell they won't last much longer. Thankfully with a swift kick the ladder falls and they jump one last gap back to the relatively safe main path.

"I say…what a workout…" Siegfried said with heavy breaths.

"We are not done yet my fellows. It seems the others have activated the checkpoint already. We must make haste!" Tsun exclaimed his voice beaming with the energy of the sun as he leads them forward.

"You're not winning this time, Matoi!" Omiko growled as she shoved at the girl next to her mid jump to the next pillar. Below them was a small lake filled with alligators.

"As if I'd lose to you, blondie!" Matoi retorted, able to redirect herself to land on the pillar with Ogure. The injured no-star is apparently startled by the sudden arrival of Matoi and, with a whiny moan, begins to fall off the pillar. Matoi reaches for her, but the girl overcorrects herself, keeping herself from falling but causing Matoi to plummet into the pond with the gators.

"Ha! Good luck with the alligators, Matoi! See you at school!" she exclaimed sarcastically as she looked back during her next leap.

"C'mon Ryuko! Rock those crocs!"

She snaps her head to the direction of the voice, finding Mankanshoku on the pillar she was originally aiming for, "Idiot, out of the way!"

"Eep!"

Mankanshoku get's the look of a deer to headlights, and doesn't move until they collide. Their collision sends them sprawling in opposite directions.

They land on nearby pillars but she can't stop her momentum in time on hers.

She can't help but scream as she falls. A group of gators forms under her and one of the more overzealous creatures jumps up from the water with its maw ready to swallow her, the sight forcing her to close her eyes in fear.

"Tek! Ken! Fun! Sai!"

She opens her eyes to the sight of Takaharu punching the last of the gators into unconsciousness before she splashes into the water. After she resurfaces Takaharu helps her onto the back of one of the unconscious gators. There is suddenly a rumbling as one of the pillars comes tumbling down, and on the end of it stands Yori.

"Over here!"

She smirks as they close in to Yori as she sees Matoi still struggling with her own gators.

Winning this was going to be easy…

"Get off me!" Ryuko roared at the…whichever the hell these things were. If only she didn't have to hold this thing's jaws open while she kicked the others off. If she could get her scissor she could get out of here.

Yet another leaps at her, but this one is caught by a knife that lodges itself into its skull swiftly killing it.

Using the dead animal as a foothold she uses the new leverage to free one of her hands. Once she has her scissor in hand the rest is easy. She makes her way to the pillar Yori knocked over, and once there looks up. She finds Tsun and Akio helping Maiko and Mako along while Siegfried carefully follows.

"Hurry along, Miss Ryuko, before more of those vile beasts arrive!" Tsun yelled down to her with Mako on his back.

"Yeah, Ryuko, you gotta hurry! We're in last place!" Mako pouted from over Tsun's shoulder.

"Not sure if we should be worried about Yori's race anymore!" Akio yelled back as he continued forward, Maiko slung carelessly over his shoulder.

"Nonsense, the occasional challenge is good for the spirit!" Siegfried returned jovially, ending with a laugh.

She leaps to the main path forward with the others, "Thanks, I was in a jam there." She said with a smirk to the three Knights.

"No thanks necessary, m'lady. Now come, we must catch the others; else we lose by a horrible margin." Siegfried stated as his large, onion-like form lead the charge.

"Didn't Yori split us into teams to make this harder?" Akio asked.

"Oh he won't mind! Yori likes to help people. Just look at how much he's helped Ryuko since she got here and she's new!" Mako chimed in innocently.

"Indeed, he's always been an advocate of jolly cooperation in the face of strong adversity." Tsun added, "Every Knight who has entered the Weapon Masters has met Yori at least once.

They close into the next trap, a simple rope swing over a spike pit. Just on the other side she can see Yori's group heading up the path to the next checkpoint.

She leaps for the loosely swinging rope, using her momentum to swing across to the angled platform on the other side. Gripping one of the spikes on the edge of the path she tosses the rope back.

Maiko is the next to cross, but as she reaches near the end of her swing her arm apparently starts to hurt. The pain throws the girl off balance, causing Ryuko to miss her hand as Maiko grabs her pajama bottoms.

She lets out an embarrassed scream and her cheeks flush as, for the second time today her underwear is exposed.

"Oh, god, not again!"

Yori sits between Akio and Takaharu, Mako napping spread across the three of them. The entire group is apparently stumped as to how to proceed past the mine riddled one-star district.

They still had plenty of time to make it to class; a good forty-five minutes would be more than enough time to guide them through the mine field with his enhanced senses.

But they wouldn't gain anything if he did this for them. Perhaps another way forward would prevent itself soon, or Maiko would screw up her diversion and Ryuko would get Senketsu if Guts found them.

He looks over to the others. This race was over anyway, everyone was working together now. Omiko and Ryuko were even talking civilly with each other and Tsun on how to proceed.

Perhaps it was for the best, Gamagoori really did step it up this year. He likely built these traps with the Kamui powered Ryuko in mind, so the others were lucky they made it this far relatively unscathed.

"There's no way we'll make it now…" Maiko sighed sadly. She was a magnificent actor up until she hams up the pain.

"She's right…" Omiko said shakily, balling up and hiding her face in her knees, "I can't believe this. I'm going to get expelled…"

"As if that'll happen!" Takaharu suddenly said, causing Omiko to look up quick enough to throw the tears from her eyes, and shocking poor Mako from her nap.

The shorter man jumps up to his feet, "We've made it through over half of these stupid traps, and we did it without stupid Kamui's or Goku Uniforms!"

He holds his left arm, flexes it, and slaps the muscle, "We did it all with nothing but our own skill, so what's a stupid mine field gonna do?!"

"I doubt we'd all survive if we tried running through," Akio said bluntly as he stood.

"Well I'm not gonna just roll over and give up like those losers down there in mock homeroom, I have a promise to keep damn it!" Takaharu interrupted.

"If you'd let me finish, you'd see I was pointing out that." Akio finished as he points to an armored bus in the distance.

"Great idea, my boy, we can persuade those one-stars to let us ride with them, I'm sure they're the reasonable sort!" Siegfried stated with a hearty chuckle and a pat on the back.

"I doubt that Siegfried." Akio replied bluntly with a smile on his face.

"Oh we got a real persuasive argument ready to get us on!" Ryuko stated as she cracks her knuckles before looking down at Omiko. "Don't we Hakodate?"

Ryuko reaches out her hand to Omiko, and after a moment a sharp toothed smile forms on the blondes lips, "Right!"

They move to the bus, and Maiko fakes an injury to get it to stop.

The one-star driver steps out after a moment, "Hey no-star, get out of the road!"

"No need for hostilities good sir, we simply need a ride to…" Siegfried began.

"Shut up and get out the road you stupid wannabe knight. Fyi your armor looks like a stupid onion, there's no way you'll get in with the real Knights with dumb armor like that!"

"…what did you say a about my armor you knave!"

With that Siegfried punches the driver with enough force to throw him back into the bus and out the opposite window, eliciting gasps from the vehicles other occupants.

"Wow! Great hit, Siegfried, now all aboard!" Ryuko exclaimed as she leads the charge onto the bus and they proceeded to beat the now angry occupants and likewise removed them. "Does anyone have a license?"

"The Kiryuin Family owns everything in Honno town, so unless Lady Satsuki says otherwise I don't need a license to drive!" Maiko stated confidently as she assumed the role of driver.

 _"_ _What is she up to now…?"_

Maiko presses down on the accelerator and the bus wobbles as the occasional mine explodes around them.

Through the noise however he can hear a woman's voice, "I got a hijacked bus with no-stars at the wheel. They're clearing mines with it, over."

Then he can hear a voice distorted with electronic feedback, likely from a radio, "Copy that, you may eliminate with extreme prejudice."

He then hears a collection of guns cock, "Okey Dokey!"

"Everyone, down now!" He warned as he pulled down Mako.

Luckily everyone complies as bullets begin to riddle the vehicle, though some make it in thanks to the busted bullet proof windows.

"You gotta be freakin kidding me!" Ryuko yelled over the gunfire.

"Lucky this thing has armor," Akio said, "otherwise we'd be Swiss cheese by now."

"Then let's give them a taste of this!" Omiko shouted as she punched a red button under the wheel next to Maiko.

Suddenly a turret begins to rise from the floor and it takes Mako along with it.

"This is either going to be really good or really bad." He found himself saying nervously.

Mako absentmindedly grips the triggers on the minigun turret and begins blasting away at the people firing on them.

"Ha ha ha, you guys should totally try this!" She yelled down happily before a dreamy expression covers her face, "Oh, yes."

"Mako, get down, it's not safe!" Ryuko yelled up to her friend.

"RPG!" Maiko yelled from the front.

He quickly reaches out the window and yanks up a passing stop sign. Pulling himself to the roof he quickly swats the RPG with the sign to protect Mako, but when it impacts the ground nearby it nearly flips the bus.

He holds Mako upright while she continues to fire the turret; the bullets fired from it riddle the one-star apartment walls.

"What the hell Yori!" Takaharu yelled from below.

Three more RPG's fly at them, but before he can get ready he can see Omiko climbing up in his peripheral vision.

"Give me that!" She yelled as she yanked the sign from his grasp surprising him with her strength in holding it, "You have no form, leave this to me!"

Fitting with the skill of a former Honnouji Academy tennis captain she smacks the projectiles in curved arches back where they came from with little trouble. She takes up a position next to the turret ready to handle any new RPGs and to cover Mako.

"Yori, get Mako off that turret!" Ryuko yelled up to him.

He looks over to Mako, who gets a puffy pouting face and shakes her head as she practically hugs the turret, "Nuh, Uh!"

He peaks into the window near the driver's seat, "She's chosen to stay there."

"Pull her off then damn it! It's too dangerous!"

"You know I'm not going to force her to do anything." He replied nonchalantly.

"Gah, now's not the time for that choice bullshit! Move and I'll do it."

He shrugs and moves to let Ryuko climb up first. Once he flips back in however Maiko fakes an arm pain and falls onto the turret lift button.

Everyone looks with horror as the turret lowers back into the cab, but Mako is still holding onto the triggers.

"Mako, let go!" Ryuko yelled as bullets ricocheted around the bus somehow missing everyone as it strikes the metal window frames.

"Nuh uh, it feels too good."

The bullets eventually tear through the frames and the roof begins to peel off just as the turret finally runs out of ammo.

"I love riding in convertibles." Mako stated with an innocent smile as she finally let's go of the turret.

Omiko is able to leap into the bus before the roof completely falls off, though she apparently lost her sign in the rush.

The assailants apparently see this as their chance as a hoard of RPG's launch towards them simultaneously.

"The two-star district is just ahead!" Akio yelled as he threw a couple knives at some of the RPG's.

"Punch it!" Ryuko roared as she moved to the front and slammed her foot onto the gas pedal.

Thanks to Akio's quick action with his knives they were able to clear the projectiles without a direct hit. They are still caught in the resulting explosive splash from the rest, the force of which lifts the bus and hurls it in a slow rotating motion high over the road and towards the main gate of the school.

As they soar Mako squeals in delight and throws her hands up while he holds her to the bus. At the front of the bus Maiko holds herself steady with the wheel while Ryuko tries to keep a hold of Akio, who was flung to the front of the bus and was now only held to the group by Ryuko gripping his injured hand.

At the back Takaharu and Omiko grip tightly both to each other and to one of the more intact seats while Tsun and Siegfried try desperately to hold on to their own seats.

Before they can make it to the school Siegfried's seat gives way to his weight and the momentum and snaps.

"Damn it! Siegfr-woah!" Akio began before his bandage slips off thanks to the excess blood and he is sent flying as well.

"No, Akio!" Ryuko yelled.

"Do not fret my fellows, I'm coming!" Tsun proclaimed determinedly as he lets go of his own seat to join his comrades.

"Tsun, that idiot! Why'd he do that?!"

"Don't worry Ryuko, they'll be fine."

He knew they would be. The Weapon Masters were made of people he personally recommended to the grueling program to Satsuki. Nothing short of another Weapon Master could kill them so easy.

Akio groaned as he pushed himself up. He can hear the familiar hums of Siegfried nearby and looks to find him sitting cross legged a little further up the path.

"I'm fine, thanks." He groaned sarcastically as he got to his feet and brushing himself off.

He hisses and looks to his right hand. The cut was un-bandaged and bleeding fresh blood, likely from how hard Ryuko was holding it in her attempt to help him.

"Praise the Lady that you are both alright!" the voice of Tsun said from behind him. The man pats him on the shoulder and hands him a new bandage before moving closer to Siegfried, "Are you alright my friend."

"Hmm…Oh!" Siegfried said with a start as if he just now noticed them, "Forgive me, I was absorbed in thought."

"What about?" he asked his onion-armored friend.

"You see, as I was falling I got a good look of the rest of the course. There are no more traps, but I'm afraid that brigands block the path ahead. More specifically it is some of those dastardly Fight Knights, the blood hungry brutes."

"I guess now we know why Kurt was really in the crowd then," he began as he moved just ahead of Siegfried and pulled out a pair of binoculars, "Sanageyama must have given them the go ahead to earn kill points today, likely to go after Matoi for a bonus."

"That does seem rather in character for Mr. Sanageyama, but would not the Blades of the Disciplinarian stop them from interfering in what is truly there business?" Tsun asked seriously from next to him just when he spots some familiarly clad figures amongst the bodies surrounding a knight covered in gnarly spikes.

Kurt…Some in the Weapon Masters club looked to him as one of the best Knights they had, surpassed just barely by Tsun and the Royal Guard. While he also held the title for most ruthless he did have a soft spot. All of the winnings he gained from dueling tourneys and sub-group activities went to help his sick girlfriend Lanni Q. Akio may have even respected the guy if he wasn't such a monster.

Next to Kurt is his frenemy, Leon, even with his silver mask covering his face his crescent shaped blade leaves no mistake to his identity. While they are normally rivals who prefer to fight they do work together on rare occasions, and if Leon was here his unrequited crush Hazel would be nearby. Sure enough from out of the shadows the fully yellow garbed girl moves to the group, a bubbly expression on what part of her face he can see. Her friendliness is met with disdain filled body language from Leon and curt uncaring shrugs from Kurt.

"They already took down the Blades that were in the area. Dolyn and Gamagoori are going to be pissed."

"Indeed, but that is none of our concern for the moment, we need a plan. I'm sure I can come up with one…Hmmmm…"

 _"_ _No offense, friend, but we don't have that kind of time."_ He thought.

They had only twenty five minutes left. There was almost no chance they'd all make it past undetected and an unarmed fight with the fully armed Fight Knights would be near suicide…

"There's only one solution," Siegfried said grimly as he stood, "I will hold them off, while you two flee past them."

"Nonsense! I will not abandon a…"

"Tsun please!" the great onion knight interrupted firmly, "There is no time for us to fight them truly, and I am much too slow to outrun them besides. At least with this you will both make it."

"I…"

Siegfried places a comforting hand on Tsun's shoulder, "Fret not my friend, I would be honored to lay down my life for you both. Now let us go, we haven't the time to waste."

The jog to the Fight Knights is one filled with sullen silence. Akio despised this turn of events nearly as much as Tsun likely did. If only they been able to hold on to the bus, Yori and the others were likely already in class by now.

Suddenly there is a rumble as the schools entrance collapses…wait, that's not the school!

Through his binoculars he sees that the fake school is actually a platform that slowly begins rolling towards them. On the top of it were Yori and the others, Ryuko and Omiko making their way to an apparently uninjured Maiko.

The platform closes in on Kurt's group, who move out of the way.

"Our new friends are on that platform my fellows, I suggest we join them!" Tsun exclaimed from next to him.

"Wha-How?!"

"No time to think my boy, we must act!" Siegfried said with a laugh as he hoists him on his shoulder and runs forward, Tsun laughing beside them.

Gamagoori couldn't believe his carelessness. To think a member of his own disciplinary committee would dare to concoct a plan to overthrow Lady Satsuki!

While he doubted that Maiko would come even remotely close to harming Lady Satsuki as Suzambo, he should have learned his lesson from that lout's actions.

"Where is Matoi." A dark voice said from ahead.

"S-sh-she's on her way into the ocean, th-they won't be a problem again sir." Ogure's voice whimpered.

He stops at the corner and peeks around, finding one of Sanageyama's Fight Knights, a man covered in spikes, cornering Ogure against the wall. His body is a veritable iron maiden, the girl unable to move not from restraint but from necessity to avoid injury.

"I want down there…now, before the first bell." The man growled as he grabs her shoulder. His spikes dig into her as blood begins to stain the white of her uniform.

Ogure yelps and cries as she replies to the Knight, "I-I can't! The trap was the only way down that fast with the tram out for No-Late-Day!"

"Then you have cost me dearly. Sanageyama promised me a 2.9 star medical treatment uniform if I killed Matoi today."

The Knight draws a sword covered in as many spikes as its wielder.

"N-n-n-no, please!"

"Your life will be recompense for your foolishness."

He steps out from the corner; even if she was a traitor he could not stand by and let this atrocity continue.

"What's going on here?!"

The Knight freezes, his sword mere centimeters from Ogure's throat, with one of its spikes grazing the girl's skin.

"Y-You're in trouble now!" Ogure laughed nervously.

"It is against school policy for the Fight Knights to interfere in an event under Disciplinary Committee jurisdiction without my express consent!"

The Knight says nothing, but after a moment he releases Ogure, who quickly moves to him.

"Thank you Gamagoori…"

"I know everything Ogure."

The girl slows and looks at him with shock.

"So you thought to overthrow Lady Satsuki? You have more ambition than brains."

A look of fear spreads across her face. She knows what comes next, and with the state of things it was unlikely she would survive. "No…I-I was wrong! Pl-please forgive me!"

"Never! You're expelled! You now have five minutes to leave Honno City, if you are still here when time runs out you'll be hunted by the Knights. Now get out of my sight!"

Ogure screams and flees, scraping her hand on the spiked Knight. The Knight simply turns and heads the same direction as Ogure without a word.

He looks up to a three star cable car zooming over head, amongst the cluttered faces in it is Matoi and Yori.

He pulls out his phone and pulls up Yori's number.

 _Thank you for informing me of Ogure's location. She has been dealt with._

"We only got a minute and a half left!" Mako yelled as Yori kept her steady in the rapidly moving cable car.

"We'll never make it if we stop at the station! You have to cut us free on my signal!" Akio said as he looked over to Ryuko, who is now synchronized with Senketsu.

"Right!"

Ryuko flips out of the cable car and stands on the roof as it speeds along the rope above them.

"Now!"

Ryuko cuts the rope with a slash of her scissor and flips back into the cab.

He, Tsun, and Siegfried laugh as the others scream, the wind rushing through the window unable to drown out any of their noise. They are launched over the station and soon after the wall of the academy. With a subtle push he is able to slightly redirect the cable car towards Mikisugi's class.

They crash into the classroom, and while Ryuko powers down Tsun and Akio help up Takaharu and Omiko as they make their way out.

"Come on Takaharu, we're going to be late! I'll see you guys later." Omiko said without any malice in her voice.

"Man am I pumped! Today was awesome!" Takaharu exclaimed.

"It was a pleasure Miss Ryuko and Miss Mako, farewell!" Tsun beamed.

"Good shot Ryuko, hope to see you at practice later." Akio stated.

"That was an entertaining event there Miss Ryuko," Siegfried said as he makes his own way out the car and prepares their desks for them, "I hope to see you all at the Arena later for a toast. Only right thing to do really! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Will do, I'll even bring some of my mom's yummy croquettes!" Mako exclaimed happily as she walked to her desk with Guts in her arms. Once at her seat she collapses into it and she and Guts immediately fall asleep.

Ryuko tiredly shambles to her desk and flops into it, and he moves into his own next to her. Even with her hair disheveled and her body showing signs of exhaustion she had a smile on her face. Perhaps Maiko's betrayal was drowned by all the new friends she's made. The fact that the traitor was in for the fight of her life while his friends and most importantly lover were safe and sound made a smile break on his face as well.

"Uh…Ryuko Matoi?" Mikisugi asked as he restarted taking roll call.

Ryuko raises her hand and tiredly replies, "Here."

 ** _A/N: Sorry for the long wait everyone. Life and writers block hit me for a while. I finally got out of this funk with the assistance of GirthJohnson. The biggest help was him allowing me to use his main character Akio from his stories Before My Body Is Dry and First Comes Love, so while this is going to be an AU Akio the character himself is still Girth's and I highly recommend you read his stories at some point. I also had a bit of inspiration from Dark Souls as well. Lastly I'd like to thank the new people who Favoirited and Followed this, thank you so much for the support_** ** _J_** ** _. Hope everyone enjoyed these two chapters and will try to get more chapters out soon._**


	10. Chapter 10

**Later that day…**

Ryuko, Mako, and Yori make their way into the Arena. Mako "Ooos" and "Ahhs" at the gothic architecture and knight themed people they pass, while Yori simply saunters alongside her like always. She, however, can't help feeling on edge.

"Are you alright Ryuko? You're tense." Senketsu asked.

"It's this crowd, somethin doesn't feel right." She mumbled.

"The tension is palpable isn't it?" Yori whispered to her. "I wouldn't worry, if you were the target you'd know by now."

"I agree, something else must be going on."

Finally she spots Akio at an archery range. She quickly moves to him, making sure to pull Mako along with her.

When they approach Akio speaks as he launches an arrow at a distant target, "Glad to see you made it, I doubt Siegfried would be happy if you missed his toast."

"We couldn't miss it; everyone needs to try my mom's croquettes!" Mako exclaimed.

"I take it her practice is on hold?"

Akio waves for them to follow as he leads them into a nearby hall, "It'll have to wait, Yori. There's going to be a duel, and Siegfried wants to get his toast done before it starts."

"Wow, I get to hang out with a bunch of new friends and watch a knight duel! I'm glad I got a lot of rest in class!" Mako shouted as she skipped next to them. Some of the nearby Knights jump in surprise and eye her friend warily. She grabs her guitar case in response but the knights simply shrug and look away.

"Who's fightin? Anyone we know?"

"No, but you'll probably want to watch anyway. I'm sure Kurt will be after you before the semester is out, and it's pragmatic to learn about your opponent beforehand."

She begins to ask about this new asshole, but stops as they approach a large set of doors. Akio places his hands on them, and with strength she wouldn't expect him to have he pushes the large metal doors open slowly.

As the door opens a light breaks over them, but this light wasn't the now familiar light of Satsuki's. This light was warm and comforting, like something from a dream or a memory.

When the light clears it opens to a large and simple kitchen. In its center was a long, aged wooden table surrounded by familiar faces. The room was lit only by the chimney in the back and the sun that leaks in from a hole in the roof.

"Ah, Ryuko, Mako, and Yori! Good to see you made it!" Siegfried jovially stated once he noticed their approach.

His Onion helm is off, revealing a slightly chubby young man with black hair and the beginnings of a mustache. His face seems to permanently hold a smile and his brown eyed gaze is a peaceful one, though she knows firsthand that doesn't mean he isn't prone to anger.

To his left is Tsun, his helm also set aside. He looks are princely, his blonde hair flowing to his shoulders and his sharp blue eyes holding a boundless determination she's come to expect from the man. He offers them a salutation that is full of pride and mirth.

To Siegfried's right sat Takaharu Fukuroda. He offers them a toothy grin and an enthusiastic wave. From next to him Omiko Hakodate offers her own sharp toothed smirk and a nod.

She could hardly believe she was socializing with those two at all. Sure they worked together through the course this morning, but wasn't it awkward to be so friendly with them considering what they've tried to do before? Perhaps it was Mako's influence that allowed her to let that slide. Besides, it's not like they knew anything about her dad's killer, they were just pawns thrown at her by Satsuki and her dumbass Elites. Since that was the case she could forgive them.

Mako greets everyone back as she passes around some of her mom's croquettes. She seemed to be enjoying herself, but how she got Guts to get her mom to send more croquettes she'll never know.

Everyone but Siegfried takes their seats, with Akio and Mako sitting on either side of her while Yori sits across. Siegfried moves to a pot on a nearby wood burning stove, and once there he fills a collection of large wooden mugs before returning.

"Now, before we enjoy this scrumptious looking meal Mako has provided, I say we toast!" He stated while he hands out the mugs.

When she gets hers she sees the mug is filled with a semi glowing liquid. "Uh…Is this even safe to drink?" she mumbled to herself.

"He does not seem the type to poison people." Senketsu said.

"What the hell? This stuff is glowing!" Omiko blurted, voicing her thoughts to the rest of the table.

"Indeed, this is my special brew. I'm afraid the recipe is a secret, but I can guarantee this drink would warm the bosom of a dead man and put a spring in his step to boot. While I'm sure this group is as hardy as they come, we all could use a pick-me-up after this morning's challenge."

"I don't know…"

"Don't worry Omiko!" Mako interrupted, "At least if we get sick my dad'll be able to save some of us! He's a back alley doctor, and…"

Ryuko drifts away from the conversation, content to let Mako sweep the others up into one of her rants.

"She does this often then?" Akio asked quietly from next to her after a moment.

"Yeah…"

Suddenly a loud bell tolls and drowns out all of their conversations.

"I'm afraid we allowed time to slip up on us comrades." Tsun said as he stood.

"No matter, we shall simply turn this into a picnic." Siegfried laughed, standing as well, "First, let us toast."

He raises his mug, and everyone follows suit. "To your valor, my strength, and our victory together…" he then clinks his mug against Tsun's.

"Long may Her light shine!" they both say proudly before laughing heartily.

She finds Mako, Yori, and Akio bumping her mug, stopping her from pulling out of the toast.

"Long may Her light shine!" Mako parroted.

Akio however leans in and whispers to her, "I know you don't like Lady Satsuki, but just go with it."

She grits her teeth for a moment, but can't help letting it go once she sees the happy expressions of the others. Tsun and Siegfried immediately begin chugging, but it's only a few seconds before Yori sits his mug down. She stifles a chuckle when she sees his croquette gone as well. She sees Omiko and Takaharu looking cautiously at their drinks, and she can't help doing the same for her own.

"Wow, Ryuko, you gotta try this!" Mako stated. Before she can react her mug is suddenly forced to her lips and tilted back. She is forced to swallow two large gulps of the fluid just to keep from spilling it onto Senketsu.

The taste is indescribably delicious, and she can tell Siegfried wasn't kidding when a warm feeling fills her whole body. On top of this any remnants of the fatigue she felt from the day were completely gone, she felt like she could run a marathon.

She looks over to Mako, her cheeks a deep blush and her eyes sparking with energy. She looks around to find everyone in a similar state.

Everyone except Yori, that is. The man seems completely unfazed by the drink, only having a small blush on his cheeks that doesn't even turn as red as his hair.

"What does it take to faze this guy?" she mumbled.

"He must have an extraordinary constitution to have been nearly unaffected by that, I feel rejuvenated simply by tasting your blood now." Senketsu said. She even looks down to see a bit of a blush on her shirt!

"Who knows," Akio answered, not realizing she was directing her comment to Senketsu, "more than any normal person."

"Well friends, let us to the battlefield to watch the duel." Tsun said as he refills his mug and nibbles on his first croquette while he leads them out.

When they return to the field the crowd has dispersed into a large circle similar to how they did when she fought Mariko. Most people clear the way for Siegfried, his large armor practically forcing them to move. They follow their large onion-like guide all the way to the inner edge of the crowd, and they proceed to sit in a group to eat their croquettes and drink their brew.

In the center of the field stood four figures, three on the right and one on the left. To the right was a woman in loose white cloths fortified by bits of armor on her shoulders and stomach. She is bordered by two more people, one a man with a halberd and simple chainmail armor, and the other a Knight in brass whose figure hints at feminine. The man has a half star on his armor and the women have one.

Opposite of these three stood a lone Knight whose armor made him look like a damn cactus. She didn't see any stars on his armor, but with the spikes she wasn't sure she'd be able to anyway.

"Kurt," a thin, flat-chested woman with a strange crown mask and flowing robes stated from the edge of the ring, "you and your cohorts Leon and Hazel invaded a school event without permission, and this makes your fifth sin. Not only this, but you have killed members of the Blades during the event."

The cactus knight simply scoffs in response and draws an impractically spiky sword.

"I see you know what comes next." The woman said disdainfully, "Your corpse will be the souvenir of reprisal for those slain unjustly."

The other three in the ring all draw their weapons as well.

"Three on one and the Blades have their life fiber equipment…" A nearby knight said

"Yeah, and he doesn't even use any. Not to mention their all Ki users. Looks like Kurt's finally going down." Another added.

"What the…Wasn't this going to be a duel?" Takaharu whispered harshly.

"Well, it's more of a gank really." Akio answered.

"Well then that's bullshit! It's not fair!" Takaharu growled.

"This is the consequence for the choices he's made." Yori stated bluntly.

"But…"

"Yori's right. He wouldn't be in this dangerous situation if he didn't get greedy." Akio interrupted grimly.

Any other conversation is halted when there is finally movement from the ring.

The three make the first move, with the woman in white pulling out a white cloth as her allies move to either side of Kurt. The woman then slides her cloth along the blade, bathing it in a strange light as she does.

The first on the offensive is the halberd wielder. He starts with a forward charge. Even with his speed boosted by life fibers Kurt dodges his attempt in a way that allows him to close their distance.

Kurt slashes, cutting a gash across the man's arm with ease. The man rolls away and the brass woman moves to cover her comrade from Kurt's pursuit. She stabs, forcing Kurt back long enough for the third woman to join the fray. The woman in white moves even faster than the other two, but somehow Kurt is able to keep dodging in time. The brass woman falls back and quickly uses her own cloth to make her sword glow as well. The two women then join forces in attacking Kurt, who somehow manages both opponents enough to land a few hits.

The halberd man does something different with his own cloth. Even from where she was she could see his death grip on the cloth, and suddenly what looks like electricity forms on it. He throws up his fist and soon literal lightning begins to strike randomly around the group.

The fight becomes more of a chase after that. With Kurt dodging as best he can. Even with him inflicting flesh wounds with his armor she doubted he could keep up for much longer though. The halberd man moves in as the woman in white moves back and uses her cloth to bathe herself in a light that seems to heal her of any injuries Kurt inflicted. After the somewhat lengthy time it takes for the light to arrive and leave she quickly moves back in to join her comrades.

The evening sun turns the environment into a deep red. Red enough to add a surreal, or more like nightmarish, effect to what follows.

In a blink the two women's swords stops glowing their purplish white glow, and Kurt takes this moment to strike. Using his free hand he deflects the incoming stab from the brass woman's sword. Unlike the parries Mariko inflicted on her his leave the woman standing, and in the perfect place for him to ram his spiked sword directly through her.

Blood spews from the wound, and to make it worse Kurt forces his victim off his blade with his foot. The woman screams as she falls. The halberd man moves between Kurt and his ally while the woman in white rushes to the brass woman.

Kurt rushes forward; dodging nimbly over halberd man's swing. He closes in quickly on the woman in white and swings, forcing her away from her comrade.

The attack on the woman in white must have been a feint, with impressive intuition Kurt back-rolls past the incoming halberd man. The halberd man doesn't have the chance to regret his mistake before Kurt's sword is through his back. The cloth of his armor shreds and the armor turns to ash. The man drops his halberd, and once Kurt forces his blade from the man he collapses. Kurt reaches for the fiber, but it drifts from his grasp and floats instead to her.

As the fiber flows into Senketsu Kurt looks towards her. While she can't see his face through his helmet she can feel his hate filled glare.

The brass woman attempts to stand, revealing that the life fibers in her armor have allowed her to heal somewhat. The bleeding caused by Kurt's sword is too much however, and she falls back to the ground, though whether or not she's just unconscious she couldn't tell.

The woman in white lights her sword once more, then lets out a vicious roar as she charges at Kurt.

Kurt gets into stance, preparing to counter the woman.

To her surprise the woman's attacks don't become predictable and clumsy. Instead she begins striking and dancing around Kurt, the cactus barely able to keep pace.

She lands a stab in his shoulder, then his leg, then his arm. Her rapier is obviously sharp enough to pierce his armor as each strike sends splashes of blood spattering onto the dirt. She looks to take the victory with one more well-placed strike.

But it is obviously one strike too many. Kurt parries her blow, and the girl is stunned momentarily. Rather than finish her, however, he slams his sword into her leg. The spikes stab into her knee and force the girl down. Kurt then mercilessly kicks her over and places his boot on her neck, the bottom of which was apparently the only part not covered in spikes. He then holds her there, swatting her hands and legs away with his sword, incapacitating them continuously.

Eventually, the woman goes limp, and he removes the boot from her throat though not without hesitation.

"Wooow! That was amazing!" Mako said from next to her, her words muffled from the croquettes she had shoved in her mouth.

With his last opponent down he limps away from the field…

…and directly towards them.

"Ooo! Now he's coming over here, maybe I can get his autograph!"

"Kurt doesn't normally choose to give those out Mako." Yori said with a smile, but unlike usual he had a serious look in his eye.

"Get behind me Mako." She mumbled over to her friend as she grips her guitar case.

Kurt doesn't slow down as he closes in on them and their group parts to let him pass.

As he passes her he stops.

"You…You're Matoi." He growled.

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

He says nothing more, but she could practically feel the killing intent radiating off him. He walks away into a distant hall.

"Well," Siegfried stated, "that was quite the match."

"Yes, it seems to have eaten any time you could have used to practice Miss Ryuko." Tsun added.

She looks to Tsun. She can feel the displeased grimace on her face, but he was right. Everyone was already filing out of the arena, and she wasn't too keen on testing her luck on what happens to students who stay in the school after hours.

"You could always practice at my place if you're desperate." Akio said.

She looks over to Akio. Sure she needed the practice, but she's only known him for like a day. It was too late to make it back to the Mankanshoku's if she went and practiced for even just an hour. It had to be way too forward to go to this guy's house…right?

"Of course she'll go! We can even make it a sleep over!" Mako decided for her with a slap to her back.

 **Later…**

Akio turns back to Ryuko and Mako, the girls gawking a bit at his home. It was probably a bit strange to see a shack with actual yard space considering how cramped the rest of Honno City was. It was also a decently sized place, with enough room to have four bedrooms and the amenities needed for his family to live a relatively comfortable life. There was even a simple tire swing on a nearby tree, as well as his targets set up in various places in the yard.

Of course everything was worn down in a similar way the rest of the slums were, maybe they were expecting something more instead.

"Wow…it's…" Ryuko began.

"This is way different than I expected!" Mako interrupted, "I was expecting one of the Knights to live in a big fancy house like in story books!"

"M-Mako!"

He sighed, the latter it was then.

He waves them forward and opens the door, though he only makes it a few steps in before something small tackles his leg.

"Welcome home, brother!"

He looks down to find his little sister Akiko smiling up at him.

He smiles back warmly as he ruffles her hair, "Good to see you, princess."

Akiko giggles until she notices the strangers behind him, then her hug becomes a grip as she tries to hide from the two new faces.

"Is that you, Akio?" the voice of his mother came from an approaching basket of cloths, "How was…"

She stopped as she saw Ryuko and Mako, "Oh? Who are your guests?"

"This is Ryuko Matoi and Mako Mankanshoku; they're a couple of friends I met on the course today." He introduced as he moved to allow the two girls inside, Akiko still hiding behind his legs. "Ryuko, Mako, this is my mother Kasumi Takahiro."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am." Ryuko said with a bow.

"Likewise." His mother returned.

With a comical popping noise Mako forces the large bag she had on her back inside, and once beyond the doorframe she moves to his mom and begins to vigorously shake her hand, "Pleased to meetcha!"

"And this," he continued as he places his hand on his sister's little head, "is my little sister Akiko. Say hello, princess."

"H-hello." She said into his leg.

Ryuko gives a soft smile at the little girl, but Mako instead decides to zoom from his mom to his legs, "Aw, you are so cute! Ooo, what's that?"

He looks to where Mako is pointing, finding a collection of books strewn in a nearby corner.

"T-those are my coloring books." Akiko answered shyly.

"Oh, I love coloring!" Mako exclaimed as she moved over to the books, "Hey Akiko lets color together!"

Akiko looks to him, unsure of what to do, and he gives her a nod. She seems uneasy at first as she moves to Mako, but it only takes a moment…and one crudely colored drawing from Mako…to cause Akiko to warm up to the hyperactive young woman.

He looks over to his mother, "I hope you don't mind, but the two of them are staying over tonight."

She sighs, "I assume you're training with your friend?"

"Yes, ma'am" Ryuko answered for him.

"Well, keep an eye out for your father; he's going to be late from the docks again. Honestly, I wish you two would take a break once in a while, we're pretty well off for no-stars."

He smirked sadly, but decided against conversing further. He didn't want to have that conversation now, especially not in front of company. He led Ryuko into the yard, and from there they spend the next three hours sparing.

 **Later…**

Ryuko groaned a little as she fought the urge to collapse into the grass.

She didn't expect Akio's training regimen to be so intense, at least she was finally done.

"Don't pass out just yet, Ryuko." Akio said through heavy breaths, "We have one more thing to practice."

"I'm not about to pass out asshole." She growled.

He chuckles, and she looks up just in time to see a stick flying at her face. After fumbling with the object for a moment she finds that it's not just a stick, but instead a bow.

"What's this for?"

"Archery practice." He stated bluntly as he waves her over.

"But why?" she asked.

He doesn't answer immediately, instead he begins gently moving her feet with his own, getting her into a stance.

"If Honnouji Academy has taught me anything, it's that you always need options in a fight. Especially when your opponent is leagues stronger than you are."

He hands her an arrow.

"Whatever, I held my own against Kiryuin once already, and I wasn't even using Senketsu right to start."

He motions for her to try and nock the arrow and shoot the distant target. She does it simply enough, but once the arrow flies away it misses the target. On top of this the string scrapes her arm, causing it to burn.

"Damn it!" she yelped.

"Are you alright, Ryuko?" Senketsu asked.

"Yeah, it's nothing." She mumbled.

"Overconfidence is a bitch isn't it?" Akio quipped.

She shot him a glare.

"Don't worry you're in good company." He added. She's curious only for a moment, but then he takes aim quickly and fires three arrows in quick succession into the distant targets.

"Damn show off." She muttered before adding, "It's not like I need to learn this shit."

Akio sighed, "Why don't we make a special rules bout then. If you can hit me once before I can hit you ten times then I'll concede that you won't need archery training. If I win, though, you train."

"Or how about I just don't do your damn archery training?" she retorted.

"Scared you'll lose?" he challenged with a smirk.

She couldn't suppress her growl, "I ain't scared."

"Good," he said as he walks a short distance away, "then let's get started."

They get into stance, "Don't think I'll go easy on you just because we're friends." She said as she activates Senketsu. When the light dissipates she expects to see him worried, but finds he doesn't seem bothered in the slightest.

He hooks his bow on his back and pulls out his curved sword.

She half expected him to use just his bow to prove a point. Of course this just made things easier so she wasn't complaining.

"You're free to make the first move."

She's sorely tempted to rush him, but even without a Goku uniform Akio was still a Knight, she couldn't just rush him. Even with her cautious approach she misses her swing with the flat end of her scissor. She is given a tap from his blade, while it's unable to cut her thanks to Senketsu she knew that was the point.

She jumps away from his subsequent swing, and then follows up with a rolling slash.

He dodges and tosses a thrown knife from his bandolier; it proceeds to bounce off her forehead.

"Stand still you…"

"Calm down Ryuko," Senketsu interrupted, "he wants you to lose focus."

"You think I don't know that?! Now shut up and let me handle it."

She dodges the next knives with ease, but he dodges her swing and quickly clips her ankle with a slash. After three more attempts at the slow and steady approach end in failure she loses her cool.

"Gah!"

"Ryuko!"

"I said let me handle it!"

She charges at him dodging on instinct now rather than thought. She then gives a flurry of swings that nearly hit him, but he still manages to dodge and land another hit.

"That's it!" she roared as she switches her blade around. She was officially pissed, after all she's been through she couldn't lose again!

"Ryuko calm down! Do you really want to hurt him over this?" Senketsu asked

"No, but…." She groaned, she couldn't see any other way to hit him without using it.

"Hmm…very well, I will help you hold back enough not to hurt him."

She nods, "Scissor blade: Decapitation mode!"

While she and Senketsu were arguing Akio had switched to his bow and moved a fair distance from her. He now has an arrow knocked and ready.

"With his shooting speed he could land the hits he needs to win before we can close the distance. Be careful Ryuko."

She took in a breath, "Finishing move!" she yelled as she charges forward as fast as she can without Senketsu's full help. Akio fire's a shot, but rather than dodge and slow her momentum she charges on. She can't help but smirk as Akio shows the first sign of surprise in the whole bout. This delays his next shot allowing her to close in.

Akio pulls out an arrow, but there is no way for him to arm it before she is on him. He takes an uneven step back as she swings and falls, and she follows him down. Her scissor kicks up a plentiful amount of dust that immediately forces her to close her eyes. Something that tastes like sawdust gets into her lungs and forces her to cough.

Senketsu powers down and she feels Akio beneath her, but her coughing forces her to do little beyond roll off of him. She rubs her eyes to clear them enough to see that Akio is in a similar state. Through blurry eyes she quickly scans around for her scissor, and after finding it quickly taps Akio with it.

"Ha…Looks like…I win!" She said triumphantly through coughs.

"Actually…" Senketsu began as Akio lifted a broken arrow up through his own coughing fit

"…he was able to hit you in the stomach with this." Senketsu finished. She looks down to see the other half of the arrow wedged in her garter belt.

Suddenly there is a creaking noise that forces their attention to the tree, which now sports a huge gash in its trunk. The limb that holds the tire swing also has a chunk missing. It soon snaps from the weight and both it and the tire hit the ground with a thud.

She looks over to Akio, who gives her a worried look, which she returns with a nervous chuckle.

"Big brother, supper is…M-My swing…" the teary voice of little Akiko suddenly says from the entrance of the house.

"Oh! My! Gosh!" Mako shouted before she begins to go on one of her odd tirades.

The rant is quickly ended however as Akiko begins to cry.

"D-Don't cry, princess! Look there's some other branches!" Akio stuttered as he jumps up and quickly begins to remove the tire swing from the limb, "Ryuko will help me fix it since it's kind of her fault."

"Hey, how is this my fault?!"

"You cut the branch!"

"Well it wouldn't have been cut if you wouldn't have picked a fight with me dumbass!"

"Well I wouldn't have done that if you just practiced your archery without complaining like a baby!"

"BABY?!"

"Will you two stop arguing and fix the swing already?!" Mako said from her new perch on a tree limb. Her and Akio can't help but double take between where she was to where she is.

"Alright. I guess we can practice shooting some in the morning then."

"Ugh, fine, let's just fix this and get something to eat, I'm starving."

 **A/N: First of all I'd like to apologize for the terribly long wait on this one. Everyone who has favorited this so far knows why I initially stopped, but life decided to throw a couple more curve balls after that. Then on top of that when I finally finished this chapter the first time I re-read it and didn't like the way half of it turned out so I went back and re-did it.**

 **Secondly I'm thankful for all the support I got on this despite the fact that it looked like this was on the way to being a dead fic. I'm going to try my hardest to finish this even though I'm a long way from the end. The only real problem down the line is writers block and a busy work schedule. For now I may take a while to update, but once the holiday season ends I should be able to update more regularly again.**

 **Thanks again for your patience and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Retype Author's note: After an epiphany at work (and a sneaking suspicion since I posted this) I realized I need to rewrite how the end of this went down. I knew I needed what happed to happen, but the delivery was lackluster and rushed (mainly from the idea coming at 1 a.m. and I had to work so I jotted it down blah blah…). Anyway I decided to rework it to better fit it into the story and make it feel less like it was shoehorned. Hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

 **One week later...**

Yori couldn't believe he was in this situation. Over the past school week everyone who was close to Ryuko, barring himself and Mako, had been kidnapped by different club heads and held captive to draw Ryuko into some sort of trap or another. To his surprise they even held Mariko ransom at one point, but considering how they were forming an older sister/younger sister bond perhaps he shouldn't have been.

This, however, had to take the cake. The Role Play club somehow had him captive, and he knew just who to blame. He was drenched in sweat, and his heart was beating out of his chest so hard it felt like the life fiber stitches there would snap. As the oversized black and white scorpion draws closer to him and his arachnophobia forces him closer the back wall, he knew he'd have to ask what made a certain pink haired snake choose to do this to him. He was really regretting not telling her why this was a terrible prank.

"My, you truly are petrified of my little pet." A sultry feminine voice said from beyond the spider kin.

That voice belonged to the president of the Role Play club, Rin Edamura, though she never refers to herself as such anymore. She is in full cosplay, in a shimmering red dress that hugs her form and her dark brown hair blocking one of her eyes, which have contacts to make them appear orange like cinders.

She is the spitting image of her choice of persona, Cinder Fall. She even had the voice down perfectly. The only part of her that was not part of her inspiration was the tell-tale stars of a Goku uniform.

She is flanked by three more figures he didn't recognize as people, but they were obviously cosplaying the rest of Cinder Fall's entourage.

"Heh, are you even sure this is him? The way I heard, Red is supposed to be worse than a Nevermore," The Mercury look alike laughed as he motioned to the monster, "yet this Death Stalker has him scared stiff."

"I'm just glad that thing's keeping him back." The Emerald look alike stated, "I'm not in the mood to find out what he'd do to us for trying to capture that girl."

He let out a quick sigh of relief; the fact that they left Mako alone was good. Not only was he in no position to watch out for her without Ryuko around, if this thing attacked her he didn't want her to see what he'd do.

He just had to hope Mako could convince Ryuko that he was in a tight enough spot so she'd choose to help him soon before…

* * *

"Oh, come on, I am so improving!" Ryuko loudly replied to Akio.

"I don't know… you missed quite a few shots when you were rescuing me yesterday." He said through a smirk.

"Maybe next time the Archery club decides to kidnap you I won't save your sorry ass!" She said with a laugh. She knew he was just being an ass, but she was starting to find it a little endearing just like the quirks of the rest of their crazy little clique.

"Ryukooooo!"

Speaking of…

She prepares herself as Mako dives at her. Mako's arms are around her neck in an instant and she spins around her neck until they hit the ground, the girl landing on her with a thud.

"Ryuko, Ryuko, Ryuko!"

"What is it Mako?"

"Yori's been captured by some fancy dress up people!"

"…"

"That's surprising." Senketsu stated as she was stunned.

"What?" Akio stated flatly, giving voice to her thoughts.

"What's going on? I thought I heard you guys talking about those Role Play club losers." the voice of Omiko asked as she walked up to them in her new Knight recruit attire, which she apparently convinced the Weapon Master Blacksmith to make into a more armored version of her old tennis captain skirt.

"Mako says they've caught Yori." Akio answered.

Omiko answers with hysterical laughter after a moment.

"No really it's true!" Mako said as she leaps to her feet. "I had just woke up from a nap in economics class, except I wasn't in my classroom when I woke up. And there was this really pretty lady in red. I mean she wasn't stacked like you or Lady Satsuki, but she really knew how to make her dress look good…"

"Back to the point Mako," Akio said calmly.

"Oh, right. Anyway she had this cute grey haired boy grab me out of nowhere, and I screamed because he was squeezing my chest and stuff. Yori must've heard me from his math class down the hall, cuz he came busting in lookin all strong and fierce and stuff like he usually does. He was about to punch the heck out of the guy and he let me go, but then there was this hissing noise. Next thing I know Yori went white as a ghost, and he twirled me to the door. After I recovered from the motion sickness I looked back in the room to find a really big scorpion was keeping Yori at the back wall! It was hissin, and clickin it's claws and stuff and I knew Yori should've already had the thing not doing that anymore but he was just stuck there. I think he's afraid of eyeballs guys!"

"Eyeballs?" she asked in unison with her two other companions.

"Yeah, the thing had like a bagillion eyes and they were all stuck on him. Most people don't look at him in big groups, he always kinda…"

"Hm, I wouldn't have pegged Yori to have arachnophobia." Senketsu stated, drawing her away from Mako's rant.

"Arachnowha?" She asked him lowly.

"It's a fear of spiders and other arachnids. It sounds as if he has a very acute case, he's likely helpless, despite his skill."

"Sounds like, despite my better judgment, that Yori needs our help Ryuko." Akio stated.

"I can't believe he's afraid of bugs of all things…" she heard Omiko mumble.

She nods, "Which way was this classroom Mako?"

"I…uhhh…don't remember." She pushed her fingers together nervously.

"What?! Why don't you remember?!" Omiko shouted.

Before she could retort Omiko she is interrupted by a tug on her arm.

She turns to find a girl who looked a few years younger than her in a Lolita style dress with her red hood up obscuring her face. "Um…maybe I can help?"

"Uh…" She began.

"How are we supposed to trust you, you're obviously part of that stupid club."

"How dare you talk to her like that!" A girl in a white skirt similar to the girl in red stated angrily as she stomped over to them. "It was only a year ago you were a part of the Role Play club **Heinkel Wulfe**."

Omiko quickly drew her new weapon, a staff shaped like her old racket, and aimed it at the new face. "Don't ever call me that."

To her credit, the new girl didn't flinch in the slightest at the weapon aimed at her, despite the fact that most anything relating to the Weapon Masters always seemed to scare people here shitless if they thought it was legit.

"I don't see why you're so offended," yet another new face, a stacked blond with long curly hair said as she approached, "you were so much cooler when you were Heinkel."

"She is ashamed of her past with us," yet another new face, a girl with gold eyes and a big black bow stated, "I can relate to the feeling."

"No you can't!" Omiko roared, "God, am I glad that Yori convinced me to leave you Otakus!"

"If I remember correctly, he never told you where to go; he just gave you different choices for how to move forward." The girl in white stated haughtily.

"Guys, shouldn't we…" Akio began.

However, Mako proceeds to slide next to the girl while nodding her head sagely before interrupting him, "Uh huh, that sounds just like the Yori I know, he'd be all vague and stuff and wouldn't have judged you regardless on which you picked."

"Exactly, I'm glad to see you're making friends with people of at least some intellect." The girl in white said to Omiko. She looks to Mako with a smile while offering her hand, "I am Weiss Schnee; it is a pleasure to meet you Miss…?"

Mako proceeds to grapple the girl's hand and shake it vigorously catching its owner by surprise, "Mako Mankanshoku, pleased to meetcha!"

Then the others introduced themselves.

"Yang Xiao-Long, at your service." The blonde said with a grandiose bow and a large roguish grin.

"Blake" the girl with the ribbon said with a slight bow.

"And this little gal here is our leader," the blonde said as she wrapped an arm around the girl in red, "say hi sis."

"Hi." She said meekly after a moment.

"Aw come on Ruby, they won't bite…on second thought you may want to watch out for ol' shark tooth over here."

Omiko growls, "Those aren't even your names you damn weirdos…"

Senketsu speaks up suddenly, "Ryuko, we really should hurry this along. It's quite possible that Yori could have a heart attack if he gets scared enough."

"What?!" she yelped startling the others, "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

She moves over to the Ruby girl and grabs her shoulders, "If you know where they are, you gotta tell me!"

"Uh…Um…Yeah, this way!"

* * *

Akio followed Ruby next to Ryuko as they charged though the halls with Omiko trailing in the back. While not as adamant about it as Omiko, he agreed that this was a fishy situation. The Knights were one thing, his club was practically a separate arm of the school entirely, and the only ones who would probably go after Ryuko and their group were the Fight Knights. There was no reason to trust Ruby and her friends would lead them the right way, after all the clubs were practically ordered by Lady Satsuki to fight Ryuko to the last man. However, the fact that Ruby was willing, despite her reservation based on her shy attitude, to lead them alone at least gave them a bit of leeway in his view.

In the end, Ryuko and Mako trusted them, and if they proved disloyal, he doubted Ryuko would let them get away with it any more that Ogure did, though perhaps with a little less death.

After a while of running they made it to the classroom.

"Hmm…Perhaps we should have captured the girl. Matoi seems much less concerned with your wellbeing than I anticipated." A voice from beyond the door said.

Without a word Ryuko pulls the pin on her glove, activating her Kamui, and kicks the door from its hinges. Before the dust could settle there is the sound of a shotgun firing and Ryuko is flung across the hall and out the opposite window.

In a swift motion Ruby spins her large red rifle and it changes into a scythe before his eyes. Then pulling the trigger on the gun scythe the kick launches her into the dust. A surprised grunt and shattering glass indicates that she took at least one of the captors out the class window on the other side.

He motions for Omiko to take a position next to the door with him as they let the dust settle, and when it does he finally spots Yori. There are claw marks in the wall he is pressed against, and when the red head looks at him with pleading eyes he can't help but be dumbfounded. Just in front of him pacing back and forth is a large scorpion like creature, the creature has a black star on the back of its tail.

He then looks over to find the woman in the red dress Mako mentioned. Next to her are a green haired girl with dark skin and a girl with half brown, half pink hair with white streaks in the pink. All three of the women are facing towards the window Ruby must have launched through.

"Guh, we should've known the brat would've gotten involved. The others can't be far." The green haired girl stated.

"No matter, we can use this to our advantage, but perhaps you should go and help Mercury, dear Emerald."

The green haired girl grunts in displeasure but walks forward to the broken window.

The Neapolitan haired girl turns back, and her mismatched eyes widen for a moment before she gains a malicious grin on her face. He shoots back, but he is sure he is already too late.

"Or perhaps," the voice of the woman in red begins, "you and Neo should entertain our little guests."

He begins to reveal himself with Omiko until he hears a familiar roaring yell. He smirks as he moves back from the door and Omiko does the same, a sharp tooth grin on her own face.

"You think a damn gun is gonna stop me from kickin your asses?!" Ryuko yells as she comes barreling through the window at full speed. He looks through, expecting to see Ryuko topple the three over, but instead they shatter completely as if made of glass.

"What the hell?" Ryuko questioned as they move into the room.

His attention is snapped to the left as the scorpion hisses and charges towards Ryuko, its stinger prepared to strike. On instinct he grabs one of his throwing knives and tosses it directly into the creature's tail. Omiko apparently chose to attack as well, as a heavy ki arrow flies at three times the regular speed of ordinary blue ki into the beast's body.

The creature is thrown across the classroom, and after the sound of shredding fabric, a student is revealed in the creatures place on the floor.

A fierce growl drowns out the student's own pained ones, and before any of them realize what was going on Yori planted a kick directly into the boy's side. The boy is thrown to the head of the classroom past Ryuko, and he can hear the snapping of bone. The cry of pain coming from the boy signaling a broken rib or worse, though the boy doesn't have much time to worry on the pain. In a blink Yori is on the boy, a clawed grip on his face as he lifts him eye level, preparing to slam him into the wall.

"Yori, wait!" he shouts. He couldn't stand by and just let Yori kill the guy, but he soon regrets his action.

The red head doesn't even turn to face him, but the look he can glean from his cut eyes is nothing of the calm man he knows. This look is filled with hate and trauma, and as he looks at him he can see he is shaking. On top of this, his gaze seems a million miles away, like he's somewhere else.

"Hey," Ryuko said as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "don't sweat over this guy. Let's focus on that bitch in red."

Yori turns to look at Ryuko, he stare's silently at her for a moment before he lets out a shuddered breath. He drops the boy, his long unconscious form collapsing to the ground but he unconsciously groans and shifts off of his right side.

* * *

Yori takes in a deep breath, not only to find Rin's scent, but to calm himself. He never liked reliving those memories, but when the scorpion attacked Ryuko it brought everything back with force. Akane…

He shakes himself free of those thoughts and focuses on Rin's scent, ignoring her voice as it comes over the intercom.

He follows it to the broken window, seeing the girl dressed as Ruby losing the fight against Mercury and Emerald below.

"Rin is on the roof, I'll help Ruby." He said flatly before he begins sliding down the wall to the ground. Without a word he strides up to his prey, which is so focused on their own quarry they don't notice him closing in until Ruby looks to him.

Emerald dodges away, but he catches Mercury by the ankle. The man simply counterattacks by pushing off the ground and kicking his face. He hears Mercury laugh through a smirk.

"Gah!"

That is until he crushes his decidedly non-robotic ankle. He then gives his prey a comically light beating before he tosses the groaning boy aside. Once he sees the one and a half star on his cloths he lazily claws the air, causing a shockwave that shreds his uniform as he saunters to Emerald.

The green haired girl looks to him with fear in her eyes. She pulls up her chain-scythe pistols and fires, but he dodges around the shots faster than she can see. She is left baffled as he walks up behind her, but she apparently hears him coming as she turns to strike him.

Her fear is magnified as he catches the blade of her gun with ease. He head butts her once lightly, then scratches away her uniform and let's her go. She drops to her knees and clutches her now bleeding nose and her exposed form.

"You have two choices here." He said as he turns back to the school, he looks up and notices Ryuko fighting with Rin while Akio duels the Neo girl on the roof of one of the wings. Omiko hangs back watching the battlefield intently with her tennis staff in hand, likely preventing Neo and Rin from escaping again.

"You may attack me again, or you may leave."

There is no response other than retreating footsteps followed by the steps of Ruby approaching him.

"Shouldn't we help them?" Ruby asked.

"Your choice, I doubt they need it though." He responded as he slips his hands into his pockets.

As if to signal his words as fact, Akio parries an incoming swing from Neo's umbrella sword. Rather than attack he jumps back and motions at Omiko. Omiko then builds a large orb of blue ki, and fitting of an ex tennis captain she swats the orb at Neo. The Orb turns into a spear from the speed, and launches Neo over into an incapacitated Rin.

Ryuko's scissor changes and he hears her roar, "Finishing move: Sen-I-Soshitsu!"

She swings her blade, and shatters the girl's uniforms with ease. Surprisingly after she absorbs the life fibers she doesn't release Senketsu.

"Stupid bitches." Ryuko said, then she turns to Akio and Omiko, "I'll see you guys later, I'm goin to check on Yori."

Check on him? Before he could move Ryuko had jumped down from the roof and used the pink jets on Senketsu to hover down to him.

She releases Senketsu as she walks to him, "Hey, uh, are you cool man?"

He is shocked at her concern for a moment, but soon closes his eyes and lets out a laugh, "I'll be fine, in all honesty I'm kind of surprised Mako was able to get you to help me."

"Of course I'd come help you, you're my friend ain'tcha?"

He opens his eyes to see her giving him a wide grin, and that grin puts him in shock again. He never allowed himself to think of Ryuko as such yet; she still didn't really hold a place in their grand design against Ragyo. Still, as he feels a smile spread on his own face, he realizes they had become friends regardless.

"Right."

* * *

 **That night…**

Yori comes through her door looking thoroughly exhausted, his jacket not even on his shoulder as usual. Satsuki moves to him, and pulls him into a gentle embrace.

She knew full well what he had experienced today, and she wanted to give him some small comfort before the inevitable.

He doesn't say anything for a long moment, he simply returns the hug. She pulls him as close as possible, desperate to feel him through the robe she is wearing, to enjoying this as much as she can.

When he finally speaks she involuntarily stiffens, "So Nonon said you allowed her to tell the Role Play Club about my deal with arachnids."

He pulls away from and walks past her as he runs his hand through his hair in frustration, "Why?"

The pain in his voice was evident, even if he faced away from her. She even felt it herself…or perhaps this is what guilt felt like.

Still she took in a deep breath and gathered herself, mentally convincing herself this was necessary, "Why I did it was to fulfill my ambition."

"…"

"You do not seem convinced…you know full well how important defeating my mother is. If some of us must suffer to end her so be it."

"What have I done to deserve this?"

"Wha-"

He turns to her, his face wet from tears.

"This kind of thing I expect from Nonon, but not from you. There are a million ways you could've instigated the Role Play club to attack Ryuko. Hell you could have had Nonon message me to get captured deliberately. Instead you pick something that brings up personal, painful memories. Things you knew would hurt me…"

"…what happened to us?"

Her heart ached immensely as she looks to his face, but as soon as those words left his mouth she felt anger and venom rise up her throat bringing a name to her lips, "Matoi."

"Ryuko has nothing to do with this…."

"She has everything to do with this!" she found herself roaring; "Each day that passes you draw closer and closer to her. Every day I see you with her, laughing, joking, even just talking."

She can feel the jealousy rip into her heart, and she used it to push forward, "All things I should be doing with you by right! You draw closer and closer with her with every moment you spend with her and what's worse you don't comprehend how it affects me…and I will no longer stand for it."

"What do you…?"

"You are to stop socializing with Matoi effective immediately."

"…No."

She turns away from him, he was so predictable. "Then you will take your leave of me until you understand why I do this."

"I don't answer to you like the others. I'm not leaving." He began strongly before his voice softens, "We can work through this Satsuki, just…"

She felt her heart soften.

He was the only thing that made her feel human…maybe that was part of the problem…She had to do this…for both their sakes.

She steels herself and hardens her heart. She drops her robe to revealing her true attire. She reaches a hand to her left arm to the trigger for Junketsu, looking over to his fingers that now hover hesitantly above her right shoulder.

"I can and will force you to leave."

His hand pulls away. There is silence for a moment before Yori lets out a nearly inhuman roar. She flinches as she hears the glass shatter, the tower quake, and the retreating sound of flapping wings. She fights her weak human urge to collapse to her knees both pain and sorrow. She wipes a single tear from her eye just before the Elite Four barge into her room.

She barely registers what Sanageyama says as she sees the expressions from her other three subordinates, their expressions ranging from worried to contemplative.

She had never held such regrets in all her life as she did in this moment. For once in her life she could not shift the blame to her mother. She may have just lost her greatest treasure left on this pathetic marble she fought for, and she had no one to blame but herself.

If she wasn't so jealous of Matoi she wouldn't need to…no, she should be thanking her.

She helped her spare her lover an incredible torment.

"Did you hear me Lady Satsuki? Who did this? Tell me so I can kick their ass! It was Matoi…"

She stops Sanageyama's incessant questioning with her hand, "It matters not Sanageyama, you may all return to bed."

"Wha-As if, we need to find out who…"

"Can it banana brain," Jakuzure interjected, "Lady Satsuki is fine and she wants you to leave her alone. Let's leave the crime solving to the mutt and frog boy and go to bed."

Sanageyama protests adamantly, but still allows the petite pink haired girl to force him away.

She turns to find a large chuck of her room in tatters, Yori's frustration had torn a monstrous chunk out of her floor and ceiling as well as shattering the window.

"I hope you are sure about this, my Lady." Gamagoori stated as he moved next to her.

"I calculate a 75% chance this will end badly." Inumuta added as he moves to her opposite side, "Still you and Yori have beaten the odds before, that's what makes you so interesting. Until then I'll close the blast doors so that you can get some sleep, farewell and goodnight Lady Satsuki."

 **A/N: I hope everyone likes this chapter. I'm really realizing now how much the loss of my mother affects my writing. I used to use her all the time as a sounding board for ideas, but now without her to listen to me talk like Mordin Solus from Mass Effect about different ideas writer's block can be even worse than before. Thankfully I have a friend who finally took an interest in this that helped me get this out. I hope you RWBY fans enjoyed the introduction of these copy cats and let me know if I characterized them well enough because I've actually been ready to start a RWBY fic after I finish this one. Lastly I hope not to take too long with the next few chapters, and the next one should be done within the next few days, and I'll probably finally get back to the Kill la Kill main storyline up until I put a little fluff between the Natural Election's start and the King of the Hill deal that started this whole thing for me. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy** **.**


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